Did you ever think, when New Year’s Day rolls around, it might be time to sneer at those paltry resolutions and go for a really big change? Leave your old self behind and step into a whole new identity perhaps? I apologize for being late with my post here, but that’s because I’ve been cooking up a really exciting idea. How’s this for starting off 2015 with some flair? Pastor’s Wife takes a big dose of Pop Queen and … Read More
It used to be that you could put things in different compartments and they would stay there, divided from one another in their own individual boxes. Nowadays, however— and this isn’t just in my house, either—certain things are getting mixed together in new ways. At first it can be a bit disorienting, like a kind of shift in the earth; but then it seems right and good. You look at your boxes again and wonder what else you can do … Read More
Is it possible to keep two independent melodies, or maybe even three or four, going in our heads at the same time? And, if it is possible, is it advisable? That is, can maintaining the integrity of each actually help to lift us out of the daily muddle? I think so. Unless, that is, I’m confused. Or maybe just eager to re-unite with my younger, more agile self. While we might think anyone who “hears voices” is likely just nuts, … Read More
Is there a sure-fire way to tell the real thing from an imitation? And what allows an imitation to be acceptable or even preferable? When it comes to fulfilling our natural desire for community, who is to say if one kind is more genuine or life-giving than another? Some months after advising me to lay off the salt, my doctor also told me to cut out sugar and all white foods—wait, I think cauliflower is allowed — as much as possible. … Read More
Right now — with many of us running around trying to decide which particular thing would actually make a difference in someone’s life as opposed to just adding to a mountain of stuff really beside the point — seems like a good time to consider how far apart, or close together, nothing and something are. What we find here could come in handy. Opposites, you say? Not so fast. Sure, who could argue with Julie Andrews (or, just the … Read More
What music to my ears it was last week, on a hot and humid day, to hear the whirring of the bush hog in our new back pasture. A transformation was going on, and while it may not have been exactly righteous, it was at least very good. Our wish to do some tending of the field had been stymied by two key factors since moving in: first, not having the right equipment and second, the constant soggy state of … Read More