May we be people of faith first, before we are people of factions. May we not react to our relatively small differences of opinion with fear or hostility. “Love one another as I have loved you.” Many of you may know that I worship in two churches – each with a different language and church…

During the memorial service of a dear friend, C, on the West Coast today, I got the news that a young physician acquaintance, A, on the East Coast had also died. They were both kind and brilliant and their parting message was the same: make every opportunity to mend broken relationships and prioritize your loved…

700 days of Virginia COVID state of emergency About March 8, 2020, the first case of COVID was identified in Virginia and 4 days later a state of emergency was declared. Since then almost 6 million people worldwide, including almost 1 million Americans, have died with millions of others suffering serious health, educational, and economic…

Pilate’s elite status blinded him to a greater reality. Pilate questioned Jesus, expecting that Jesus would beg or plead with him to wield his power in Jesus’s favor (Mark 15 TLB). When Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Yes, it is as you say” and then spoke no more.…

On my ever first, ever big, ever adventure fifty years ago I kept a diary bound in cloth printed like an ancient explorer’s map of the known-to-the-West world Sailing ships, astrolabes, continents with Latin names: Asia Minor Natolia, Aethiopicus From green cool rural Adirondack mountains and blue clear Cayuga Champlain lakes, I went on a…

Isabel Bracy, 1991. Interlaken, NY: Heart of the Lakes Publishing Author Bracy’s careful compilation of detailed information from Civil War records provides rich detail on the daily lives of Civil War soldiers and officers, as well as their movements, battles, and sufferings. I have a deep connection to Civil War stories that began early when,…