i don't sing at birthdays I pedaled my Schwinn Autocycle along the gravel road beside the Waterman's south pasture. The rutted road rattled the front fender almost enough to drown out my rendition of Gloria in Excelsis Deo. Almost, but not quite. Four of Charlie Waterman's cows standing by the fence-line mooed in tune to my song. I switched to Christ the Lord Is Risen Today near the intersection of the gravel and paved roads. Two lanky, flop-eared, black-and-tan hounds crawled out from under the front porch and added their howls in accompaniment. They ...continued...

Recently I spent the day with one of my granddaughters. She’ll be a senior in high school next year. We spoke of many things, but one stands out in my memory. She told me of accompanying a friend to a Planned Parenthood facility. Her friend’s mother instructed her to go there to get a pregnancy test. I’ll let you hear the conversation we had. “Mandy’s * mother was out of town so Mandy asked me to go with her.” “Why didn’t she get a pregnancy test at the drugstore?” My granddaughter shrugged. “Her mom wanted her to make sure t ...continued...

As I go about my occupation as a corporate chaplain, I hear the heart of people. So many folks seem discouraged. When they have a need, Jesus seems the last place to turn. Others seem to have no concept of the Living God who intervenes in situations when invited in. While I prayed about how to be an encouragement, I remembered how God had met me many times in the past. I made a list and came up with about twenty stories. Each week I'd write one and take it to my critique group to get their input and feedback. Before long, I had twenty-seven stories--enough for a small book. Dan ...continued...

Once again it's “Deja vu all over again.” Never ending white entitlement, delusional history and the usual threats of violence are now playing out at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Eastern Oregon, one of the more important bird and wildlife sanctuaries in the country and located in an isolated corner of Oregon. Malheur is being occupied by a handful of white (Christian?) terrorists with the apparent and enthusiastic support of ISIS no less. The Refuge, however, happens to belong to all the people of the United States. But like a shopworn moral ...continued...

Breaking Wild Horses By Cindy Gray Sometimes my dreams, even the ones I don’t really remember, leave me with a strange feeling of exhilaration. It&rsqu ...continued...

The Marvels of Movement Dancing is like dreaming with your feet! ~Constanze: During my mom’s dementia journey, movement often inspired and connected us. Here is one of those magical moments, excerpted from my book, Love in the land of Dementia: Finding Hope in the Caregiver’s Journey. The story is set in my mom’s memory care unit. ** Rochelle, the activity director, sticks in another tape and soon Stardust is playing. images “Let’s dance,” she says, motioning everyone to stand. Mom looks up and I offer her my hand. ...continued...

The Haunting of Leigh Maxwell By Esther Luttrell ONE The wind was starting to kick up, he noticed. Even though the old car provided a cocoon, protecting him from the elements, he was aware of the dip in temperature. It was colder than usual for so early in October. Trees surrounding the big plant where he worked were bending in the breeze, disappearing from sight when shreds of fog shifted across the woods. He hunched down further in the seat, pulling his wool jacket tighter around him. “She’s going to be late,” he said aloud to ...continued...

Blue Hole By Rolland Love The following are a couple chapters from my mystery suspense novels "Blue Hole" and a sequel "River's Edge" which have received over (300) four and five star reviews. ☂ In River's Edge I aged Dub (12) and brother Tommy (15) by 50 years and made them Grandfathers who take their Grandsons to Blue Hole where a murder occurred the last time they were there in 1949. They become a family of cold case detectives. It's not easy to solve a (50) year old murder but they prove to be up for t ...continued...

As dad reversed mom came flying down wit a bag of snacks for the road. She gave it to me; we said our goodbyes and the journey began. A journey started with fear uncertainty and indecision How rude of me I didn’t introduce myself I’m Yasmin recently turned eighteen and right now on my way to my probable school of higher lea ...continued...

The Million Man March Commemorative Poem titled: "A Black Man" written by myself two years before the Million Man March. "A BLACK MAN" DO NOT LOOK INTO MY FACE AND SEE THE COLOR OF MY SKIN, AND NOT SEE THE CONTENT OF MY CHARACTER. DO NOT LOOK INTO MY HISTORY AND SEE THE THE DARKNESS OF MY PAST, AND NOT SEE THE BRIGHTNESS OF MY FUTURE. DO NOT LOOK AT THE LOSSES OF MY MISTAKES, AND NOT SEE THE PROFITS OF MY ACHIEVEMENTS. DO NOT LOOK AT THE DISTANCE I HAVE YET TO TRAV ...continued...

Trouble! I felt so loney when i sitting my bed. i took out a big fat black marker and scibbled with it on wall. My mom didn't noctice it, but my dad did, he gasped and started to laugh, i was misunderstood because my dad is laughing i ran away from dad. but nonthing happed. ...continued...

Well you guys already know who i am but anyways, i'm gonna talk about me for awhile. This last summer before school, I had surgery on my chest because I was born with a dent in my chest. The doctors kept on telling me that there was nothing wrong with me but my mom and I kept going to the doctors. We finally told them that we would like to see a specialist. So we did see one and he said that my dent is severe. Severe would mean My chest was pushing my heart and lungs to eachother and thats why my chest was always hurting. He also said I should do the surgery, at first i d ...continued...

Chapter 1: Sunday, January 7 Rick Players looked up from his snowmobile at the jagged peaks of the Rockies. A cold wind stung his cheeks, and he smiled at its bite. It was the last afternoon of his twin teenage sons’ winter break. For this day only, Rick had ignored his job as CEO of PlayLand, the toy company his family owned. Just one afternoon with his boys. That’s all he wanted. Well, if he were honest, he wanted out of the job altogether. He hadn’t realized when he took over from his father that leading PlayLand would cost him his freedo ...continued...

Today we woke up to more of the same. A howling wind and violently flapping tent walls. We discovered that the wind, which is from the north, is rapidly pushing us back to our start location from yesterday. We call it a hamster wheel when the ice beneath our feet moves as quickly south as we move north. Since we are tent bound I have felt a survival mode kick in with both of us. I found myself hoarding the last of my Pop-Tarts as I secretly tried to eat them inside my sleeping bag, denying their very existence when questioned by Mike over the noisy wrappers giving me up. From the crunching ...continued...

I love the bumper sticker that reads “Put something exciting between your legs.” In 1961 I bought a 1942 Harley for fifty dollars. I had to do it in secret because my father said I could only have a motorcycle over his dead body. One morning my father was having coffee at the local drug store with Mr. Wood, who had a son, Billy, who was a classmate of mine. “Frank,” he says, “my son wants to buy a motorcycle. I told him that no father in his right mind would ever let his son get something as dangerous as a motorcycle. Then he tells me, your son has one, so it must ...continued...