Little Eddie came back from Viet Nam addicted to heroin. When we met him, he had kicked the habit cold turkey. He lived in one small room of a large Victorian house where my brother rented an apartment. His sister was the landlady and let him stay there rent free. I never met her. They […]
People often pray for healing. And when they, or the person they pray for gets well, they say God answered my prayer. What about when they’re not healed? Does that mean He didn’t answer the prayer? Paul prayed for healing from a thorn in his side. No one is sure what he meant by that but […]
Gray, lonely, cold slick street, Dry doorway refuge. Aroma steaming transom fan, Heady scent of bread, Warmth swirling round my head. Streetlight blinks across the street, Shedding tears of melting ice. Car slows, stops, Window descends. Handsome, dark-eyed stranger asks, “Do you need a ride?”
I’m reading a book on prayer. It’s old. The flow of the writing and some of the words would ordinarily cause me to pause or re-read a section. But rather than pause at every unfamiliar turn, I decided to just plow through and gather the pearls of wisdom I easily recognize. I stopped dead in my […]
I once worked with a lot of Israelis at a company in Jersey City. After one Memorial Day, one of the men asked me why people celebrate Memorial Day. You go to the beach, open your pools, have barbecues. I don’t understand it. I told him that people remember the fallen with parades and planting […]
I once worked with a young Ecuadorian woman. We often ate lunch at a nearby mall. On one occasion we noticed decorations being set up and walked over for a closer look. I was thinking tasteless junk and looked over to say let’s go when I noticed her staring. After a few seconds she said, “I wish […]