Pluck Out Your Eyes 

Today, my family attended a memorial mass to commemorate the first anniversary of my father’s death. Since I didn’t burst into flames the moment I walked into the church, I took that as a good sign. Taking a pew next to my mother, I took a deep breath and prepared to...

Aloha

When I was in seminary, one of my professors told me, “Before God, there was a sense of the sacred.” Long before people started theologizing, they looked at the rising sun, thunderstorms, mighty oceans, and the stars with awe and wonder. Peering into Kilauea’s vast...

So This Is Christmas 

My daughter plays the flute in her fifth grade band and, this morning, they put on a holiday concert. Arriving early, I snagged a couple of seats near the front for snapping pictures and waited for my wife to join me.  “How are you, Steve?” one of the mom’s...

Out of Control 

Malignancies, car crashes  Power’s decisions rash  Politics, war, ideological clash Terror marring summer skies Buildings imploding, cutting short lives Death, loss, insanity, sundering ties Young men angered over trifles Seeking fame with rifles ...

Autumn Morning Jog 

On morning kissed streets Mercuries fleet streak past As mothers perambulating, solidarity meet Whilst old men for whom the die’s cast Each other knowingly greet. The shopkeeper with wares Opening for the day  As youth, hale and fair Blazing bright, much to say...