THE SUN ALSO ARISETH, AND THE SUN GOETH DOWN

{Ecclesiastes 1:5} Several days ago, I was driving somewhere for some forgotten reason and the hauntingly beautiful voice of Eva Cassidy sang “Who Knows Where the Time Goes?”  I replayed it several times.  And I thought again about time, its going and coming, the tick and tock of our days and ways.  It’s a plaintive

The Wonder of Wonder

I find myself wondering a lot these days.  I wonder about wondering.  Wandering through the landscape of wonder, I realize that there are several different layers.  But before I wander off too far, I want to encourage you to watch an MSNBC documentary, titled “The Way I See It.”  It’s about President Obama’s photographer, Mr.

Making America Great…Again & Again & Again

Walk Whitman, one of our truly remarkable poets, wrote an important poem about America’s greatness in 1884. The poem is entitled: “Election Day, November, 1884,” and itreads in part: If I should need to name, O Western World, yourpowerfulest scene and show,“Twould not be you, Niagara—nor you, yelimitless prairies—nor your huge rifts ofcanyons, Colorado,Nor you,

Rise Up

“Rise Up,” these two, simple, charged words are packed with multiple and complicated meanings.  The Dictionary provides some of these meanings: “Come to the surface;” “ascend;” “go up;” “arise;” “ascent;” “rebel.”  On one basic level, it means getting up in the morning to begin a new day.  On another more difficult level, it suggests overcoming

These are the times…

Remember these famous words?  “These are the times that try men’s souls; the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country, but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.  Tyranny, like hell , is not easily conquered, yet we

Connecting Again

It was sometime toward the end of the 1980s, I believe, when a small group of male friends took the train from Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, to the Batchawana River. We off-loaded the canoes, our gear, and food, and began our three-day journey down river to Lake Superior. It was Memorial Day weekend, the snow had recently left the

COVID, TIME, YOU, ME, & BOB TALKS

The continued weight of the Covid-19 pandemic rests heavily on my shoulders, as it does on this entire country and, indeed, the world.  It saps our energy and zaps our patience.  Like a dark cowl, this pandemic hovers, hangs, and haunts, while continuing to rage and wreck its devastating damage.  It seems as if every