• In the beginning…there was a blank page. Sitting down to prepare Friday’s devotion for the speech and debate league our family has been involved with for nearly a decade, my first thoughts drifted back to those beautiful words in Genesis 1:1 – “בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים” (In the beginning,…

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  • Last night I came into The Observatory (what we fondly call the great room of our addition) to find Aidan and Ethney watching Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe, starring Ciarán Hinds. I have fond memories of the older boys watching this classic film years ago, but last night, it…

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  • “In that day the remnant left in Israel,the survivors in the house of Jacob,will no longer depend on allieswho seek to destroy them.But they will faithfully trust the LORD,the Holy One of Israel.A remnant will return;yes, the remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God.” Isaiah 10:20-21,…

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  • Today, as I was sharing about my week while sitting in the Observatory with good friends, one of them leaned over to her husband and whispered something to him while looking out the windows behind me. I figured one of the squirrels caught her attention, hanging upside down…

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  • Usually, I put a hard stop on the day around lunchtime to just read or pray. It’s become a regular part of my deepening. This Thursday, I shut the door to my room and turned to face the windows overlooking the courtyard. The snow lazily fell from the…

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  • Practiced Faith

    If I recall correctly, this poem sprouted from five word-seeds, including immutably, ineluctable, and ostensibly. I love the sound and weight of these words. On one hand, we’re told by writing “experts” to avoid overusing adverbs, but used fittingly (cough, cough), they add flavor, like any good seasoning,…

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  • “What will your verse be?” Mr. Keating, Dead Poets Society When I officially introduced my students to free verse last week, I knew that Walt Whitman would be on the menu. In my search for a shorter example, I came across the poem I first heard under the…

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  • January 1st has historically been a time for reevaluating one’s life and planning for the future with greater purpose and resolution. It’s that bridge suspended between years (although it begins the new year), linking the past and the future in a fleeting present. For me, it has become…

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  • Last week I willingly missed a moment. I neglected the divine intrusion for a bowl of gruel (not literally – just a bowl of Panda Puffs cereal) before heading up to my bedroom to teach English all day. I slept in, forgetting that I would have to dig…

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  • A few years ago, my wife, children and I put together a family Christmas album as a gift to our families, complete with original songs, popular covers, and literature readings by my daughter and young sons. Heavily inspired my musicians such as Branches out of California, Sleeping at…

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