With beagle, watching from front door.
Who forgot to turn their phone off? 
May 21, 2012 by
Yesterday, during worship (during my sermon, actually), a cell phone went off. Since I was preaching at the time, I could see the whole congregation and I noticed who reached in their jacket to turn off the phone. Adam asked me, later that day, “Whose cell phone went off in church this morning?” (Because this […]
Memorial tire swing 
May 21, 2012 by
The park near our house is full of memorial trees, and now, we also have a memorial tire swing. An 11-year old girl, Jordan Oliver, drowned in a retention pond behind her school last week. She was playing along a bridge with a bunch of other kids, slipped into deep water, and didn’t come back up. […]
My Suburban Yard 
May 4, 2012 by
There’s a lot of lawn in the suburbs. Not exactly eco-friendly. Here’s our backyard, and it’s mostly lawn. But it’s cheaper to buy a house with a yard here than in the city. There’s also a lot space to grow food, if you’re so inclined. We’re right down the street from industrial-size cornfields, but ironically, […]
Bolingbrook Vista, No. 2
May 4, 2012 by
Subdivision. Soccer field (to the right). Tree, probably from the farm that was on this site for 100+ years. Creek. Graffiti.
The Bolingbrook Memorial Tree Program
April 30, 2012 by
How does a human settlement become more than land with houses on it? How do people start to merge the story of their lives and relationship with the ground they live on? One of the ways humans mark ground with stories is by making graves. Farming families started digging graveyards in the Bolingbrook area almost […]
Rabbit season
April 28, 2012 by
April is a cruel month to be a beagle indoors. The rabbit population explodes and is eminently visible from the windows, glass doors, and end of the leash, every day. Our beagle, Odo, shivers with anxiety and anticipation and pierces the air with ringing, frantic barks. It’s the one time of year I wish we […]
Night Catfish Derby
April 26, 2012 by
It’s not just Little League and PeeWee Soccer out here, you know.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock
April 6, 2012 by
If you ever wanted a chance to meditate or pray in a church at two in the morning, try Maundy Thursday sometime. Jesus’ disciples fell asleep on him, the night he was waiting to be arrested. So, every Holy Week at St. Benedict, like many churches do, we have a vigil or watch where folks […]
Monastic adventures
April 4, 2012 by
I love monasteries. I’ve been visiting them since my college days. I spent a half day at St. Procopius in Lisle today, with three dear friends. The building is all smooth lines – brick, glass, and concrete. I love modern architecture in a monastery: feels like there’s less of the past, dragging the community backward. Spiritually, […]
