There it was — the sound I waited for each day. “Red,” a male cardinal, had come for his morning visit. For the past several years, he has stopped by most...

One year I was helping to organize the Christmas service and celebration at my daughter’s school. The past two Christmas celebrations had been online due to the pandemic, and I was...

In 1971 I was 19 years old, wandering the country and trying to figure out life. One day I had hitchhiked and found myself at a rest stop along a lonely...

Several years ago, on a sunny afternoon in June, I was walking past a pond near some woods. I’ve walked past this pond on multiple occasions, but on this particular day,...

My house looks clean. The furniture is nicely arranged and looks presentable; the rooms are ventilated and display a sunny appearance. However, when I sweep the floors and do my weekly...

In 1965 I was a US Navy pilot serving aboard an aircraft carrier. I was on a plane that returned to the ship just before sunrise — when that narrowest sliver...

On my first Easter in Greece a friend took me to an Orthodox church for the Holy Saturday nighttime service. Hundreds of people gathered for this important occasion — each bearing...

When I was a teenager, during summer holidays I worked at a large house, trimming extensive hedges, cutting the lawns, and watering plants in the numerous flower beds. The house was...

For seven years I belonged to a rural Mennonite congregation that met in a little country church. One older woman, Greta, had made it clear when I joined that she resented...

As the caller told me I did not get the teaching job, I felt discouraged and forgotten. My two young children attended the school and the principal knew me well, so...