Stuff in the Basement

Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests; snug as a gun. The first line of Seamus Heaney's "Digging" is no pose; it...

“May those who pass by not say,  'The blessing of the LORD be upon you;  we bless you in the name of the LORD.'" For y...

The night before, I'd told the kids on the trip that when we'd be at the St. Francis museum they should be sure to see the ghost ...

Key to the MLK's motel room that night in Memphis. We'd just arrived. Long trip. Hadn't planned ahead. We'd just hopped ...

Generalizations are always troublesome, but I'll make one anyway, purely anecdotal. For years, I taught an advanced writing course, f...

All cemeteries tell stories, one way or another, stories of significant heft too, death being what it is. Some do it more plainly, some...

To watch what's happening in Texas at this moment leaves you breathless. All that flooding is astonishing. Being astonished, I'd ...

“May they be like grass on the roof,  which withers before it can grow;  with it the reaper cannot fill his hands,  nor the one w...

It's a simple human story, repeated countless times in countless lives. If it seems to have happened more frequently among the ...

Not that we needed any more books. Two moves--and one retirement--meant leaving tons behind, but they accumulate anyway and now overflow ...

His foundation is in the holy mountains.       The L ORD loves the gates of Zion             More than all the other dwelling places o...

I had the best of plans. I spent two great weeks at the National Homestead Monument a year ago, and I remember the place fondly. It was g...

Giles Tilleman, arrested for his religious views in 16th century Brussels, had a chance to flee prison, but stayed instead in his cell. ...

“She said it was something about you cleaning up Norma’s mess, Mae–you cleaning up your sister’s house without asking, and ever since th...