Facebook reminded me that years ago, while I was a teacher on spring break, I lamented the fact that I wasn’t selected for jury duty. At that time, I was excited at the possibility of serving on a jury while I was on vacation. I didn’t mind going into court, waiting around, or...
I had a close call with Coronavirus recently, but don’t worry, I don’t have it! It was an early afternoon on a Sunday and I felt more tired than usual as I wrapped up work at the hospital. As a physician it’s not unusual to work multiple weeks in a row so I figured it...
Passing into Lent again, our thoughts of course turn to whatever it is we’re going to ‘give up’ this season. This ancient practice, which really began as a fasting exercise, now extends to include the trimming of anything in our lives we have become attached to in an...
During a Yosemite photography workshop in 2013, two fellow participants and I spent an unguided afternoon in search of new landscapes. We ended up by a slow-moving stretch of the Merced River, and my companions set up their tripods facing it. I wandered further downstream and happened...
“Jesse, you have a choice. You can use your time and energy in having a bad attitude and being upset that you have homework and you’ll still have to do the homework. Or, you can use your time and energy to get it done and when it’s done, you’ll probably be in a...
“I think you should face the facts—you just don’t have a green thumb.” Those were the words of my husband to me as we stood in Trader Joe’s deciding whether or not to get a few more herb plants. At that point, I had already killed three herb plants...
“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (Isa. 7:14 NKJV) My biennial reading of The Lord of the Rings trilogy has coincided with Advent this year. In October, three...
Just over two years ago, I wrote a post for Estuaries revealing that I had burned out, big time, after my three-year stint on staff at The River. At the time I wrote that post, I was only barely beginning to scratch the surface of what was really going on for me. I only understood that I...
“So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them” ...
Something about the changing of the season makes me want to be home—although not in my loud, messy home full of boys having sword fights and dishes piled in the sink. I want to be home in some magazine version of home, drinking a mug full of cider and reading a book by the...