American Holland and Dutch America: On the Exoticization of Culture
Culture is the ever-evolving play that takes place on that stage, as new props come and old props are replaced, even as the theater remains the same. Of course, the play is influenced by the stage and interacts with it.
Manual Training for All
Jobs in construction, health care, and manufacturing technology need not lead to dead ends...
Paranoia and Perfect Love
It would be easy to dismiss my argument as a simple platitude: “Trust God.” But it is trust in the infinite that allows us to trust finite beings.
Safe at Last
As the sun rises over the Nile or my daughter’s grave, it occurs to me that the ancient Egyptians may have been onto something. Jess lives on, her soul soars to heaven, yet she returns each day, as close as a whispered web or a patient beetle on my boots.
The Jigsaw Revolution: Finding Peace, Piece by Piece
The way of the puzzler is not about reaching a certain goal. If it were, the perfectly fine image would never have been broken up to begin with. The way of the puzzler is about the puzzling itself.
The Consolation of Silence
Your presence is needed. Hush. Stay. Show your love by letting them grieve.
It Takes a Lot of Tape to Raise Kids
Behind this type of play, though, is a genuine longing for beauty—a desire not only to appreciate the beautiful things one has seen or read or heard, but also to attempt to replicate them somehow.
Grief in Eternity
Yet at times, if only for a moment, I feel the shadow over my days is transformed into pure spirit. Such thoughts give me a surprising sense of quiet joy.
Remembering Family History: A Mess, a Murderer, and a Matriarch
Knowing your family’s past fugitives and pretty boys is the kind of localism anyone can aspire toward and practice.