The Doctor Is In

In the timeframe of history, and most surely of eternity, our lives are but a brief instant, a flicker of light in a boundless universe. Yet a divine spark dwells within us — the very essence of the God who transcends and redeems time — and thus our brief passage through life becomes eternally significant, […]

On November 22nd, at 2 pm, at the age of 90, my wife’s mother passed from this life to the next.
She died peacefully, in no pain, with her family at her side, with true dignity.
Hers was an extraordinary life, an extraordinary spirit, an extraordinary faith.
She will be greatly missed.

This letter is a compilation of four, written to my family members in celebration of Christmas and thankfulness for the gift they are to me.
In the beginning, it was there.

It was there–at the razor’s edge: that infinitesimal instant between nothingness and creation, at the flash of brilliance so fierce no universe could contain it.
It was […]

 
The headlights
Slashing, their savage brilliance hacking at the night
Frantically seeking the heart which drives this dark hollow beast.
Where is she?
There. Alone. Walking.
Hair cast in cold mercury vapors, the mockery of light.
Cold. Shivering. Surviving, yet again.
The road, empty.
The heart, empty.
The words, enraged and empty.
The road, unlit, dark as dawn divorced of day.
Questions pour forth
Rushing like blackened […]

It’s been a hellacious month (a hellacious year, actually — more on that in a minute), with big changes at work (two new employees to train), a major home construction/repair project going on, and a near-fatal case of the avian flu (well, it felt like bird flu… ) from which I am just now barely […]

It is, after a fashion, a legend of the fall.

Not mine, mind you — although one could say my fall was in some ways greater.
My wife’s mother was, though elderly, quite strong and independent — alert, cantankerous, losing a little memory here and there, in nearly constant pain from vertebrae once tall and straight but […]

I know you’re all already jaded about Christmas, with the Costco and K-Mart displays showing up in September, the endless bad Christmas TV commercials, and the growing pressure to figure out the perfect present for a gaggle of worthy recipients who already have more stuff than they could possibly use in several lifetimes.
But it’s […]

Virginia V - Mosquito Fleet ferry
 
I’ve been a bit out of pocket of late, in no small part due to an ongoing family crisis (which I alluded to here) which has consumed a lot of time and even more emotional energy. So I haven’t had the time or mental wherewithal to put many cogent thoughts […]