Madeline L’Engle in her book WinterSong writes, “As we move into Advent we are called to listen, something we seldom take time to do in this frenetic world of overactivity. But waiting for birth, waiting for death—these are listening times, when the normal distractions of life have lost their power to take us away from …
Continue reading ‘Tis the Season: Eight Devotionals, Poetry, and Picture Books for Christmas
In case you haven’t noticed, I have a lot of associations. Even salt and sugar bring specific people to mind: my two grandmothers. Grandma was born in Louisiana and moved to a state closer to the North than the South (in my mind, at least), where she’s lived for over sixty years. Grandmama was born …
I see Sam up ahead. I can see him frisking in the shoulder where the road curves, right by the curb. He’s a petite ginger tabby with two white socks. At first, we thought he was a kitten, but he hasn’t grown since then, so perhaps this is as big as he gets. I don’t …
We all met each other’s glances hesitantly, worried that eye contact might break down our fragile control over our emotions. It was ocular tiptoeing. Not wanting to be obvious about avoiding each other’s eyes—because that would make it worse—but worried one look might bring us tumbling down. And we knew that if so much as …
“If you’re feeling down, just wear red,” Miss Carla often said. As Linda walked into the room, she spotted Miss Carla right away at the bingo tables, wearing her signature color and hovering over her bingo card in anticipation as she alternately eyed her opponent across the table and glanced at the activities coordinator who …
The cold darkness outside the house seemed to increase the warmth and brightness inside as the ladies laid out their dishes and serving spoons in the dining room and chatted in the kitchen. The appetizers were already disappearing and undergoing discussion as the women exchanged recipes and tips, dabbing crackers into warm cream cheese dips …
“One of the first things I noticed was how much they loved to laugh.” Kallie had once heard someone comment that about his first impression of his coworkers who lived in the South. Kallie had noticed the same trend in her own workplaces. In fact, laughter had made every job better and brighter for her. …
“Guess how old I be?” It felt like a dare, a test, and a trap all at once. Anyone with half an ounce of sense knows never to talk about a woman’s age, even if she asks, especially if she asks. But this woman was insisting with a somewhat gap-toothed grin, bent on pulling us …
This story has been waiting for words for a while, building up pressure and momentum, weighing on my heart as I gather it in bits and pieces. The stuff of life put under pressure, I hear, is what produces diamonds. But to put it in such blunt words as carbon and pressure feels uncouth, not …
Everyone knew who she was. She was the grump—and an English professor. Most of them couldn’t recall of what specialty. But she was first and foremost the grump. At every faculty party, she reigned as the food critic who held nothing back except compliments. She was worse than the worst food critic, in fact, for …
