Yes, a restorative sense of belonging comes along with service. Making a contribution always boosts the spirit. And now, with so many feeling helpless in the face of frightening political and societal events beyond our control, “just helping” has never been a better idea. Opportunities are endless— over here, over there, by the side of the loner, at the door of the caregiver, shoes going to Somalia and shelter for the Somalian refugee.
Read MoreI don’t want to forget yet another high school lesson. Whether our childhood next door neighbors, teachers, colleagues from the early days, tennis or dance partners, old friendship deserves our attention. It supplies uncommon satisfaction. Old friendship welcomes like a favorite easy chair, asking little and giving so much.
Read MoreHow uncommonly fortunate I am to have called the house pictured here home for 55 years. Somehow this simple dwelling, resting atop a hill on a quiet dead-end street, offered a home to all who swung open the back gate. Generations counted on the music of the unlocked kitchen door’s jingling sleigh bells accompanied by barks of happy dogs. Every time. Across time and place, memories stitch all of us together.
Read MoreMy father had a favorite passage, still marked by yellowing paper in his tattered biblical copy, from The Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews: “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (13:2). How much this sentiment meant to him has stayed with me over the years. The following story captures its essence. It was passed along to me Peter’s father, a man much-loved by my own.
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“Give me hope, help me cope / with this heavy load,” George Harrison sang and strummed with three of his British friends in 1973. Wrong weighs like a wet blanket on our souls. Performing his song years later, Harrison’s prayer remains ours: “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth).” Hearts seek light—hands want holding.
twenty-twenty-five / give us love…connect the dots… / our new-fashioned plans