Hush, Little Bird
Her voice was not strong. But it was powerful in softness, clear in tone. After dozens of services hearing her struggle with melody, she sang in perfect harmony.
Hello Again
The story tells us that when God sees Adam’s loneliness, he decides to create another creature, but not an equal.
To Fix Written English
Every letter must only be assigned a single sound. Every sound in the English language must be represented as a letter. Each letter should be based on a regular Roman glyph with minimal, intuitive diacritic use.
Later Than Expected, but Right on Time
The repetitions of my life—days, stories, conversations, sounds, meals, images, kisses, hugs, dreams—are like interlocking houndsteeth, but somehow unbound by form, unbridled by geometry.
Everything Depends on Not Squishing Spiders
I believe every crushed spider, on some level, represents a failure to respect and love the world we’ve been given.
The Hero Falls
The reason I think about Samson often is that he was a legend, but he seems just as human as the rest of us. He was selfish, deceptive, and disobedient, and yet, we remember him as a hero.
The Gluttony of Fear
Deep in the those woods, where the Severn River winds through White spruces and Balsam firs, I wonder if any of the trees are old enough to have lived during both Jack’s lifetime and my own.
A Book for Christmas
It’s really a reflection on what it means to be part of anything, both by birth and by choice, something universal, but told with a strong Dutch-American “accent.”
A Brand New Bag
You have to choose a direction every single day and hope you’ve chosen right.
Northern Lights: A Letter to a Friend
While we were talking, your mom shouted from upstairs that we should go outside—there were northern lights showing.
Or So I Thought
I thought that I would feel more in touch with nature after. Like I had somehow participated in an older way of living, or taken on some inherited, but forgotten role in the forest. But instead I felt sick.
Thanks for the Cat
I had actually forgotten that I could just go buy a pet.
There Are Still Secrets
His dangerous trip had unearthed something remarkable: a fully functioning ecosystem that had survived without sunlight and with barely any oxygen for millennia.
I Tried to Read Infinite Jest in Two Months and Failed Miserably
But that Saturday, while I was still in bed, I got another call from my mom. I knew from her first word the reason she was calling. Very early that morning, my grandfather had died in his sleep. I wept.
Where the Real and Unreal Meet
We see the world as if we were a child actually in the home of Gasazi, not as an adult or some disembodied gaze.
Billboards & Bumper Stickers
This is where we are. The reduction of a decades-long debate with life-changing ramifications to a billboard. Or a bumper sticker. Or a sound bite.
Little Holy Moments
I recently took a picture of a dumpster while scouting a location for work. My coworker ‘s reaction was basically a polite, but baffled acknowledgment: “ah, yes, that is a dumpster.”
The Unraveling of Truth
The difficult task we’ve all received is—like Vonnegut—seeking the slippery truth buried in muddiness and mess.
A Moment Already Passed
There’s a song I’ve had stuck in my head for over a year now. And not just the music—it’s like the idea of the song is stuck in my head.
Ding Dong Uneasily on High
Every day since then, when I wake, the first thing I experience is that ringing.
Iceland with Mark
And I invited my dad to join me. At the time, I wasn’t sure of the precise reasons I did it, it just felt right. In retrospect, I think I understand it better.
Why I Believe We Need Better Religious Education
Only 10 percent of American teenagers could name the world’s 5 major religions.
What It Means to Forget
And this scares me. Really scares me. Because our brains are wired for forgetting.
Gift and Choice
Sometimes my mind gets stuck on things. For the last five years or so, it’s been stuck on a person: Jai Paul.
Chrome and Passing
Because when it comes to people I know who are both 1. my age and 2. genuinely proud of our country, the list grows thin.
