Sounds of Late Summer, Early Autumn

As late summer begins to turn perceptibly toward early autumn, yet before the entropy of the year cools this part of the universe to virtual stillness, the last strength of cicadas, katydids, and crickets, hidden in the tired greens and browns of leaves and grasses, swarms the blue air with vibrations, as if amplifying the otherwise unheard cosmic background radiation all around us.

Letting Go, Taking Hold

I have been reading in 2 Corinthians 4 and 5 of late. That reading and recent experiences in the extended life of which I am a part have freshly and deeply impressed me.

What we know is this life – laden with ambiguity. What we hope is the life to come – lifted with glory surpassing. As we ponder and approach our own passing, how will we let go what we know to take hold what we hope?

Were the Word of the Lord to Come

Ponder this phrase with which several of the prophetic works in the Old Testament begin, so simply, so directly: "The word of the Lord came to ...." There is an entire volume of theology, of sublime experience, to spilling over, in this unadorned declaration. It appeals and unnerves at one and the same time, as it should.