Posts by D C

Several years ago, I was invited to speak at a conference center in southern Wisconsin on interfaith relations.  It wasn’t until I looked at the conference brochure that I realized that I’d be returning to a place where I’d spent summers as a boy.  The conference center was always magical to me.  The grounds were…

In the writing workshops that I offer, I begin by sharing with participants what we all have in common.  We are all caretakers of stories that will never be known unless we tell them. This is true whether we are talking about non-fiction, fiction, poetry, plays, or songs.  To be a caretaker of anything or…

The new year begins with a lot of uncertainty, and it’s likely that our nation and the world will look quite different before 2025.  On the global scene, will 2024 bring a resolution to the war in Ukraine?  The answer to that depends not just on Putin and Zelensky, but also on American politicians.  If…

After church services a week ago, a friend stopped me and asked, “Is it just me, or does it seem that time is speeding up?” Without a second thought, I agreed. The New Year’s holiday brings with it a heightened sense of time. On the one hand, the holiday invites us to look backward, to…

Looking back over the years, I realize that many of my clearest Christmas memories are from when my wife and I were first married or when our boys were little. Paradoxically, those were the days when money was tightest. One of my favorite Christmas memories stems from when we were in graduate school in Scotland.…

Although every world religion maintains that we are spiritual beings, we can decide to believe or disbelieve that. Humans who admit that the spiritual life is real must still decide how important spiritual matters will be in their lives. Let’s think of the spiritual life as similar to basketball. For some people, basketball is a…

I have visited Bethlehem only once and that was nearly fifty years ago, but I will never forget the experience.  As is true of other Christians, I came not as a tourist, but as a pilgrim.  Tourists are attracted to sacred sites for many reasons.  Some come out of curiosity.  Some come because they’ve been…

If you have been paying attention to collegiate sports, you will undoubtedly notice that more and more athletes are competing for their second and sometimes third college or university.  Being curious about this trend, I opened the NCAA site that lists the guidelines for transferring and eligibility.  I’m not qualified to evaluate these guidelines in…

It has been a joy to have our grandchildren with us for Thanksgiving this year.  Not having been with them for eight months, we’ve marveled at how much they’ve grown and what new interests they have.  Our granddaughter, aged six, asked to help prepare the Thanksgiving meal.  Our grandson, aged nine, is still not too…

It is always rewarding when people tell me that they’ve enjoyed reading one of my books. We authors hope that what we’ve written informs and entertains, but there’s nothing like a supportive comment from readers to encourage us to continue writing. My wife has written letters to authors whom she enjoys, and quite often she…