It is funny how the occasion imperceptibly changes, like the light, at an inconstant rate. At any given glance you may see that the dog has rolled over in his sleep, or the trees have lost their leaves. Morning drains inexpressibly into lunchtime, or Christmastime. Overhead the geese are migrating, just as they were the […]
Author: Bonita Jewel
Writings Like Straw
“‘I have seen things,’ Aquinas told a friend, ‘that make all my writings seem like straw.’ Most people have also seen such things. Through some moment of beauty or pain, some sudden turning of their lives, most of them have caught glimmers at least of what the saints are blinded by. Only then, unlike the […]
Characters Are We
Time is unfolding like a scroll, and we are letters on the parchment, helping to make up the words that tell the story. Each of us is a character, in both senses of the word. At times, characters become aware that they’re part of the story, and that brings the realization that, first, there is […]
Climbing Together
From Letters from the Mountain by Ben Palpant
Two Thousand Years in Rehearsal
A high school stage play is more polished than the service we have been rehearsing since the year one. In 2000 years, we have not worked out the kinks. We positively glorify them. Week after week we witness the same miracle: that God is so mighty he can stifle his own laughter. Week after week, […]
Lent – A Tithe of Your Time
In many cultures there is an ancient custom of giving a tenth of each year’s income to some holy use. For Christians, to observe the forty days of Lent is to do the same thing with roughly a tenth of each year’s days. After being baptized by John in the river Jordan, Jesus went off […]
The Best Books I’ve Read on the Writing Life
There comes a time in every aspiring writer’s life that they decide they want to learn writing from the best writers out there. And that means reading books on writing by successful and well-loved authors. Fortunately, there are plenty of options to choose from. It seems that nearly every successful and established writer has written […]
Explaining my Lapse in Posts
It was Covid. Omicron, I’m pretty sure. It didn’t hit hard … at first … But the effects seemed to compound and double every day, and everyone in my family got it. Then, the physical symptoms faded … But that brain fog is no joke! And one of my family members needed some special care, […]
Sometimes, It Seems
Sometimes, it seems It’s only a simple matter of gaze angle thought. A combination that, when met just right, key in lock the soul clicks. And opens.
The 12 Best Books I Read in 2021
I didn’t reach my reading goals for 2021. I started the year with a Reading Challenge on Goodreads of completing 77 books. Didn’t think it would be too challenging. After all, in 2020, I read 126 books (although my initial goal was only 99). In fact, I’ve met or exceeded my reading challenges for the […]