Leaving Overbrook
Like many people our age we have to leave the home that has centered our lives for many years in order to live in more manageable and accessible circumstances. They …
Transitions in Scotland
We just returned from two weeks in Scotland. Many months ago we planned to visit the Island of Iona to participate in a week-long retreat at the historic Abbey. We …
Riley Howell
Our church and community just suffered the trauma of the death of Riley Howell, a young man raised in our congregation, who hurled himself at a gunman who invaded his …
A Conversation in the Midst of Conflict
As many of you know, my denomination, the United Methodist Church, recently held a special General Conference to try to find a way to enable its far-flung membership in the …
Kairos Time in the Prison
I recently set aside thirty minutes for prayer and meditation to connect me in a supportive way with the work of people in our local Kairos Ministry with prisoners in …
Music and Dance in our Mountains
The New York Times columnist David Brooks (whom we affectionately call Rabbi Brooks) has written recently about the virtues of small towns and local governments. Our town of Waynesville is …
Charlie and Harold
A few weeks ago I took part once again in the Poet’s Gathering in Winston-Salem North Carolina, sponsored by Press 53. In one of our workshops Adrian Rice, a poet …
Interfaith Peace Conference 2018: Some Reflections
Last weekend we took part in the ninth Lake Junaluska Interfaith Peace Conference. The political convulsions of the last few years led to the theme of “Meeting the Other — …
The Dramas of Life
I recently flew over the snow-covered Midwest to Moorhead, Minnesota, across the Red River from Fargo, North Dakota, to celebrate my daughter Elaine’s birthday. (Yes, she is a Valentine!) My …
Magnificat in Dark Times
This past Sunday evening I joined some ninety voices from the Haywood Community Chorus to sing the Magnificat by John Rutter. In Luke’s telling of the birth of Jesus, Mary …
Appalachian Melancholy
I am preparing to participate in a gathering commemorating the life and work of Kathryn Stripling Byer, whose teaching, poems, and spirit will resonate in these hills for many decades …
Dance with Me
Each summer the mountains here resound with music and dancing. In case this sounds familiar, I’ve written about this before. Folkmoot dancers from around the world come to our little …
My Cyprus Memoir is Available
Regular readers will know, through my earlier reports on our travels to Cyprus in 2012 and 2015, that this has been five years in the making. By using an e-book …
Petroglyphs at Three Rivers
Images of lizards birds sheep stuck full of arrows suns and faces …
O Sacred Head
In the Organ Mountains the head of a canyon often weeps among the desolated trees. It’s a sacred place where the earth’s ribs wounded by …
Looking for America
We have been on the road again. In a moment when our country seems to have lost its way, this is one way to try to find the “real” America …