Singing Along the Journey

9/11

September, days of heat and remembrance…

The sun is just barely showing pink between the buildings across the street, so I don't know yet if the sky will be that frightening clear blue color today.  It was, that day, and the day after. It is a color and a clarity that I apparently cannot forget.  That kind of blue, to this day, makes me shudder with remembrance. And just like another day long ago, I am up early, suited in my workout clothes, ready to head to the gym, because I have a long list of things to "accomplish" today.  I do not need to drive to Baltimore as then; today it is emails and getting…
Read More

Fifteen years, remembrance, and gratitude

This day is never an easy one for me.  I, like anyone who lived in Washington DC, or New York, or a little town in Pennsylvania called Shanksville, have my personal story to tell about that day.  That, however, is not the story I want to tell today as we remember the events of 15 years ago.  I want to tell you the story of a man whose name I do not know, a man working in a TSA line, in Columbus, OH. I was in Ohio (really in Gambier not in Columbus, but that was the nearest airport) to participate in the Kenyon Institute's Beyond Walls spiritual writing program.…
Read More

Today was a little easier…

Today was a little easier...I'm not talking about how I feel in relation to upcoming events, but how I feel about past ones.  Today is, after all, 9/11.  And today was just a little easier. Maybe it is the fact that my attention is focused on next week; maybe it was simply the passage of time.  But today, as I drove past the Pentagon shortly after 9 am, as I returned from morning prayer at school, it was just a little easier.  Yes, I still turned my eyes sharply to the heavens as a plane flew overhead in the landing pattern headed toward Reagan International Airport.  Yes, I probably still…
Read More

Today…

I often wonder if I will live long enough on this earth to have the morning of September 11 be like any other morning when I get up and consider the day ahead.  Perhaps, perhaps not. This morning, I will head out onto the Beltway and go to an early morning small group worship service. This morning, in the early hours, I will drive south past the Pentagon.  I will go past a building I pass almost daily now on my way to the beginning of another new phase in my seminary life. Eleven years ago I woke early, getting ready to go to Baltimore for my very first studio…
Read More

Yes, it is better together…

To state the obvious for anyone over the age of 20, yesterday was the the 10th anniversary of the events of 9-11-2001.  Much has been written and said about how we all feel about what happened in 2001, and what we think of the years since.  But I would like to share with you what I felt about, well, yesterday. First of all, I am as much an anniversary driven creature as any other human.  I was thinking yesterday as I drove out of our driveway, how much like my dog Gracie I really am.  When something unpleasant or frightening happens to her, she instinctively expects it to happen again,…
Read More

Beginning the remembering…

I must confess that I am avoiding the news and the usual NPR sound track to my life because, well, I am striving to resist the growing tide of 9/11 remembrance stories.  It is not that I do not want to remember, in fact I can't help but remember....I just want to maintain some illusion of control over when I take time to remember and therefore when I give in to the emotions that come with those memories. But maybe because I have been thinking about the topics like art and sin, yesterday I was thinking about just what I was doing ten years ago -- not in the minute…
Read More

September, days of heat and remembrance…

The sun is just barely showing pink between the buildings across the street, so I don't know yet if the sky will be that frightening clear blue color today.  It was, that day, and the day after. It is a color and a clarity that I apparently cannot forget.  That kind of blue, to this day, makes me shudder with remembrance. And just like another day long ago, I am up early, suited in my workout clothes, ready to head to the gym, because I have a long list of things to "accomplish" today.  I do not need to drive to Baltimore as then; today it is emails and getting…
Read More

Fifteen years, remembrance, and gratitude

This day is never an easy one for me.  I, like anyone who lived in Washington DC, or New York, or a little town in Pennsylvania called Shanksville, have my personal story to tell about that day.  That, however, is not the story I want to tell today as we remember the events of 15 years ago.  I want to tell you the story of a man whose name I do not know, a man working in a TSA line, in Columbus, OH. I was in Ohio (really in Gambier not in Columbus, but that was the nearest airport) to participate in the Kenyon Institute's Beyond Walls spiritual writing program.…
Read More

Today was a little easier…

Today was a little easier...I'm not talking about how I feel in relation to upcoming events, but how I feel about past ones.  Today is, after all, 9/11.  And today was just a little easier. Maybe it is the fact that my attention is focused on next week; maybe it was simply the passage of time.  But today, as I drove past the Pentagon shortly after 9 am, as I returned from morning prayer at school, it was just a little easier.  Yes, I still turned my eyes sharply to the heavens as a plane flew overhead in the landing pattern headed toward Reagan International Airport.  Yes, I probably still…
Read More

Today…

I often wonder if I will live long enough on this earth to have the morning of September 11 be like any other morning when I get up and consider the day ahead.  Perhaps, perhaps not. This morning, I will head out onto the Beltway and go to an early morning small group worship service. This morning, in the early hours, I will drive south past the Pentagon.  I will go past a building I pass almost daily now on my way to the beginning of another new phase in my seminary life. Eleven years ago I woke early, getting ready to go to Baltimore for my very first studio…
Read More

Yes, it is better together…

To state the obvious for anyone over the age of 20, yesterday was the the 10th anniversary of the events of 9-11-2001.  Much has been written and said about how we all feel about what happened in 2001, and what we think of the years since.  But I would like to share with you what I felt about, well, yesterday. First of all, I am as much an anniversary driven creature as any other human.  I was thinking yesterday as I drove out of our driveway, how much like my dog Gracie I really am.  When something unpleasant or frightening happens to her, she instinctively expects it to happen again,…
Read More

Beginning the remembering…

I must confess that I am avoiding the news and the usual NPR sound track to my life because, well, I am striving to resist the growing tide of 9/11 remembrance stories.  It is not that I do not want to remember, in fact I can't help but remember....I just want to maintain some illusion of control over when I take time to remember and therefore when I give in to the emotions that come with those memories. But maybe because I have been thinking about the topics like art and sin, yesterday I was thinking about just what I was doing ten years ago -- not in the minute…
Read More

September, days of heat and remembrance…

The sun is just barely showing pink between the buildings across the street, so I don't know yet if the sky will be that frightening clear blue color today.  It was, that day, and the day after. It is a color and a clarity that I apparently cannot forget.  That kind of blue, to this day, makes me shudder with remembrance. And just like another day long ago, I am up early, suited in my workout clothes, ready to head to the gym, because I have a long list of things to "accomplish" today.  I do not need to drive to Baltimore as then; today it is emails and getting…
Read More

Fifteen years, remembrance, and gratitude

This day is never an easy one for me.  I, like anyone who lived in Washington DC, or New York, or a little town in Pennsylvania called Shanksville, have my personal story to tell about that day.  That, however, is not the story I want to tell today as we remember the events of 15 years ago.  I want to tell you the story of a man whose name I do not know, a man working in a TSA line, in Columbus, OH. I was in Ohio (really in Gambier not in Columbus, but that was the nearest airport) to participate in the Kenyon Institute's Beyond Walls spiritual writing program.…
Read More

Today was a little easier…

Today was a little easier...I'm not talking about how I feel in relation to upcoming events, but how I feel about past ones.  Today is, after all, 9/11.  And today was just a little easier. Maybe it is the fact that my attention is focused on next week; maybe it was simply the passage of time.  But today, as I drove past the Pentagon shortly after 9 am, as I returned from morning prayer at school, it was just a little easier.  Yes, I still turned my eyes sharply to the heavens as a plane flew overhead in the landing pattern headed toward Reagan International Airport.  Yes, I probably still…
Read More

Today…

I often wonder if I will live long enough on this earth to have the morning of September 11 be like any other morning when I get up and consider the day ahead.  Perhaps, perhaps not. This morning, I will head out onto the Beltway and go to an early morning small group worship service. This morning, in the early hours, I will drive south past the Pentagon.  I will go past a building I pass almost daily now on my way to the beginning of another new phase in my seminary life. Eleven years ago I woke early, getting ready to go to Baltimore for my very first studio…
Read More

Yes, it is better together…

To state the obvious for anyone over the age of 20, yesterday was the the 10th anniversary of the events of 9-11-2001.  Much has been written and said about how we all feel about what happened in 2001, and what we think of the years since.  But I would like to share with you what I felt about, well, yesterday. First of all, I am as much an anniversary driven creature as any other human.  I was thinking yesterday as I drove out of our driveway, how much like my dog Gracie I really am.  When something unpleasant or frightening happens to her, she instinctively expects it to happen again,…
Read More

Beginning the remembering…

I must confess that I am avoiding the news and the usual NPR sound track to my life because, well, I am striving to resist the growing tide of 9/11 remembrance stories.  It is not that I do not want to remember, in fact I can't help but remember....I just want to maintain some illusion of control over when I take time to remember and therefore when I give in to the emotions that come with those memories. But maybe because I have been thinking about the topics like art and sin, yesterday I was thinking about just what I was doing ten years ago -- not in the minute…
Read More

September, days of heat and remembrance…

The sun is just barely showing pink between the buildings across the street, so I don't know yet if the sky will be that frightening clear blue color today.  It was, that day, and the day after. It is a color and a clarity that I apparently cannot forget.  That kind of blue, to this day, makes me shudder with remembrance. And just like another day long ago, I am up early, suited in my workout clothes, ready to head to the gym, because I have a long list of things to "accomplish" today.  I do not need to drive to Baltimore as then; today it is emails and getting…
Read More

Fifteen years, remembrance, and gratitude

This day is never an easy one for me.  I, like anyone who lived in Washington DC, or New York, or a little town in Pennsylvania called Shanksville, have my personal story to tell about that day.  That, however, is not the story I want to tell today as we remember the events of 15 years ago.  I want to tell you the story of a man whose name I do not know, a man working in a TSA line, in Columbus, OH. I was in Ohio (really in Gambier not in Columbus, but that was the nearest airport) to participate in the Kenyon Institute's Beyond Walls spiritual writing program.…
Read More

Today was a little easier…

Today was a little easier...I'm not talking about how I feel in relation to upcoming events, but how I feel about past ones.  Today is, after all, 9/11.  And today was just a little easier. Maybe it is the fact that my attention is focused on next week; maybe it was simply the passage of time.  But today, as I drove past the Pentagon shortly after 9 am, as I returned from morning prayer at school, it was just a little easier.  Yes, I still turned my eyes sharply to the heavens as a plane flew overhead in the landing pattern headed toward Reagan International Airport.  Yes, I probably still…
Read More

Today…

I often wonder if I will live long enough on this earth to have the morning of September 11 be like any other morning when I get up and consider the day ahead.  Perhaps, perhaps not. This morning, I will head out onto the Beltway and go to an early morning small group worship service. This morning, in the early hours, I will drive south past the Pentagon.  I will go past a building I pass almost daily now on my way to the beginning of another new phase in my seminary life. Eleven years ago I woke early, getting ready to go to Baltimore for my very first studio…
Read More

Yes, it is better together…

To state the obvious for anyone over the age of 20, yesterday was the the 10th anniversary of the events of 9-11-2001.  Much has been written and said about how we all feel about what happened in 2001, and what we think of the years since.  But I would like to share with you what I felt about, well, yesterday. First of all, I am as much an anniversary driven creature as any other human.  I was thinking yesterday as I drove out of our driveway, how much like my dog Gracie I really am.  When something unpleasant or frightening happens to her, she instinctively expects it to happen again,…
Read More

Beginning the remembering…

I must confess that I am avoiding the news and the usual NPR sound track to my life because, well, I am striving to resist the growing tide of 9/11 remembrance stories.  It is not that I do not want to remember, in fact I can't help but remember....I just want to maintain some illusion of control over when I take time to remember and therefore when I give in to the emotions that come with those memories. But maybe because I have been thinking about the topics like art and sin, yesterday I was thinking about just what I was doing ten years ago -- not in the minute…
Read More

September, days of heat and remembrance…

The sun is just barely showing pink between the buildings across the street, so I don't know yet if the sky will be that frightening clear blue color today.  It was, that day, and the day after. It is a color and a clarity that I apparently cannot forget.  That kind of blue, to this day, makes me shudder with remembrance. And just like another day long ago, I am up early, suited in my workout clothes, ready to head to the gym, because I have a long list of things to "accomplish" today.  I do not need to drive to Baltimore as then; today it is emails and getting…
Read More

Fifteen years, remembrance, and gratitude

This day is never an easy one for me.  I, like anyone who lived in Washington DC, or New York, or a little town in Pennsylvania called Shanksville, have my personal story to tell about that day.  That, however, is not the story I want to tell today as we remember the events of 15 years ago.  I want to tell you the story of a man whose name I do not know, a man working in a TSA line, in Columbus, OH. I was in Ohio (really in Gambier not in Columbus, but that was the nearest airport) to participate in the Kenyon Institute's Beyond Walls spiritual writing program.…
Read More

Today was a little easier…

Today was a little easier...I'm not talking about how I feel in relation to upcoming events, but how I feel about past ones.  Today is, after all, 9/11.  And today was just a little easier. Maybe it is the fact that my attention is focused on next week; maybe it was simply the passage of time.  But today, as I drove past the Pentagon shortly after 9 am, as I returned from morning prayer at school, it was just a little easier.  Yes, I still turned my eyes sharply to the heavens as a plane flew overhead in the landing pattern headed toward Reagan International Airport.  Yes, I probably still…
Read More

Today…

I often wonder if I will live long enough on this earth to have the morning of September 11 be like any other morning when I get up and consider the day ahead.  Perhaps, perhaps not. This morning, I will head out onto the Beltway and go to an early morning small group worship service. This morning, in the early hours, I will drive south past the Pentagon.  I will go past a building I pass almost daily now on my way to the beginning of another new phase in my seminary life. Eleven years ago I woke early, getting ready to go to Baltimore for my very first studio…
Read More

Yes, it is better together…

To state the obvious for anyone over the age of 20, yesterday was the the 10th anniversary of the events of 9-11-2001.  Much has been written and said about how we all feel about what happened in 2001, and what we think of the years since.  But I would like to share with you what I felt about, well, yesterday. First of all, I am as much an anniversary driven creature as any other human.  I was thinking yesterday as I drove out of our driveway, how much like my dog Gracie I really am.  When something unpleasant or frightening happens to her, she instinctively expects it to happen again,…
Read More

Beginning the remembering…

I must confess that I am avoiding the news and the usual NPR sound track to my life because, well, I am striving to resist the growing tide of 9/11 remembrance stories.  It is not that I do not want to remember, in fact I can't help but remember....I just want to maintain some illusion of control over when I take time to remember and therefore when I give in to the emotions that come with those memories. But maybe because I have been thinking about the topics like art and sin, yesterday I was thinking about just what I was doing ten years ago -- not in the minute…
Read More

September, days of heat and remembrance…

The sun is just barely showing pink between the buildings across the street, so I don't know yet if the sky will be that frightening clear blue color today.  It was, that day, and the day after. It is a color and a clarity that I apparently cannot forget.  That kind of blue, to this day, makes me shudder with remembrance. And just like another day long ago, I am up early, suited in my workout clothes, ready to head to the gym, because I have a long list of things to "accomplish" today.  I do not need to drive to Baltimore as then; today it is emails and getting…
Read More

Fifteen years, remembrance, and gratitude

This day is never an easy one for me.  I, like anyone who lived in Washington DC, or New York, or a little town in Pennsylvania called Shanksville, have my personal story to tell about that day.  That, however, is not the story I want to tell today as we remember the events of 15 years ago.  I want to tell you the story of a man whose name I do not know, a man working in a TSA line, in Columbus, OH. I was in Ohio (really in Gambier not in Columbus, but that was the nearest airport) to participate in the Kenyon Institute's Beyond Walls spiritual writing program.…
Read More

Today was a little easier…

Today was a little easier...I'm not talking about how I feel in relation to upcoming events, but how I feel about past ones.  Today is, after all, 9/11.  And today was just a little easier. Maybe it is the fact that my attention is focused on next week; maybe it was simply the passage of time.  But today, as I drove past the Pentagon shortly after 9 am, as I returned from morning prayer at school, it was just a little easier.  Yes, I still turned my eyes sharply to the heavens as a plane flew overhead in the landing pattern headed toward Reagan International Airport.  Yes, I probably still…
Read More

Today…

I often wonder if I will live long enough on this earth to have the morning of September 11 be like any other morning when I get up and consider the day ahead.  Perhaps, perhaps not. This morning, I will head out onto the Beltway and go to an early morning small group worship service. This morning, in the early hours, I will drive south past the Pentagon.  I will go past a building I pass almost daily now on my way to the beginning of another new phase in my seminary life. Eleven years ago I woke early, getting ready to go to Baltimore for my very first studio…
Read More

Yes, it is better together…

To state the obvious for anyone over the age of 20, yesterday was the the 10th anniversary of the events of 9-11-2001.  Much has been written and said about how we all feel about what happened in 2001, and what we think of the years since.  But I would like to share with you what I felt about, well, yesterday. First of all, I am as much an anniversary driven creature as any other human.  I was thinking yesterday as I drove out of our driveway, how much like my dog Gracie I really am.  When something unpleasant or frightening happens to her, she instinctively expects it to happen again,…
Read More

Beginning the remembering…

I must confess that I am avoiding the news and the usual NPR sound track to my life because, well, I am striving to resist the growing tide of 9/11 remembrance stories.  It is not that I do not want to remember, in fact I can't help but remember....I just want to maintain some illusion of control over when I take time to remember and therefore when I give in to the emotions that come with those memories. But maybe because I have been thinking about the topics like art and sin, yesterday I was thinking about just what I was doing ten years ago -- not in the minute…
Read More