When he was younger, my son Xavier and I read a fictional children’s story about a boy who rebelled against his teacher by referring to a pen by a made-up…
Paul had gone to the temple for the Jewish purification ceremony (Acts 21:26). But some agitators who thought he had been teaching against the Law sought to take his life…
In 1921, artist Sam Rodia began construction on his Watts Towers. Thirty-three years later seventeen sculptures rose as high as thirty meters over Los Angeles. Musician Jerry Garcia was dismissive…
English Romantic painter John Martin (1789-1854) is known for his apocalyptic landscapes depicting the destruction of civilizations. In these fantastic scenes, humans are overwhelmed by the magnitude of the destruction…
When Dr. Lee, my seminary professor, noticed that Benjie, our school custodian, would be late in joining our lunch gathering, he quietly set aside a plate of food for him.…
It’s almost unheard of for institutions to admit guilt after a tragedy. But one year after a seventeen-year-old student’s death by suicide, a prestigious school admitted it “fell tragically short”…
For three years, apart from household necessities, Susan didn’t buy anything for herself. The Covid-19 pandemic affected my friend’s income, and she embraced a simple lifestyle. “One day, while cleaning…
It had been years since we left the Oregon town where we raised our family. We’d made great memories there, and the visit reminded me of moments I’d forgotten: our…
My sister, brother, and I flew from our separate states to our uncle’s funeral and stopped to see our ninety-year-old grandmother. She’d been paralyzed by a stroke, had lost the…
A woman rescued Rudy from the animal shelter days before he was to be euthanized, and the dog became her companion. For ten years, Rudy slept calmly beside Linda’s bed,…
