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The Fourth Sunday of Advent
This past week the weather was so warm it felt like May. The spotted dogs and I had the opportunity to take many pleasant walks, and I felt as if my body and soul were being scrubbed by the clean air I drew deeply into my lungs. I spent much of the week pondering my gratitude for my health and that of Mrs. Orr and all of our family. More than ever, I believe it’s important to stay out of the hospital and far from health care facilities if at all possible. Once again, I will refer you to the indefatigable Anne Barnhardt. One of her recent podcasts featuring an…
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The First Sunday of Advent
It’s been cold in a raw, bone-grinding way the past week, and we’ve burned a lot of wood in the evenings to keep things cozy. These days, the hostility of the petty and screeching world outside contrasts so dramatically with the peace found within the family walls, and I spend much of my time maintaining the chasm that separates the two Almost a year ago, Mrs. Orr and I watched Terence Malick’s haunting film A Hidden Life, and I was so moved that I wrote a blog post about it. I re-watched the movie yesterday and was affected even more forcefully by the similarity to what happened to the quiet…
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Last Sunday After Pentecost
A week from today marks the beginning of Advent. The church calendar once provided the cadence for the march of everyday life, granting to Christians the sense of timing of season, of the low ebb of the Lenten times to the high tide of Easter. Just as farmers and cattlemen feel in their very bones the motion of the earth around the sun, and of this solar system’s wide circle around the universe, watching the changing natures scenes and the predictable habits of animals, so too the average Western man once felt the revolving year in his bones as he observed the Church’s feasts and solemn days. But now nature…
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Full Moon Across the Field
The almanac tells me that the hummingbirds will begin their annual southward migration this Tuesday. This starts of course in the northern climes where the air begins to cool earlier, and works it way south. We should have a few more weeks to enjoy the little wonders. A little female whom I’ve named Missy has been very busy at the feeder next to our back porch. She defends her turf with ferocity, and when she perches, she drinks deeply and deliberately. Then she zooms off to the woods where I presume her nest is hidden. What I wouldn’t give to be able to peek inside and see the little Tic…
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Behold, The Sluggard
I wanted to post something tonight, but I am exhausted after today’s long work day and I know it won’t be long until I am wrapped in the sheets and comforters of our bed. So I’ll point you to a beautiful documentary Mrs. Orr and I watched this past weekend. It’s called “Older Than Ireland,” and profiles Ireland’s citizens who are at least a century old. It’s very interesting to be visually reminded that people are not necessarily nice, just because they’re elderly. It’s also good to be reminded how lonely the aged sometimes are. We think of them as invisible people who came out of the womb at their…
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The Path of July
I have a category on this blog with which I flag certain posts, a category called “I Never Thought I’d Be In This Situation.” The holiday of Independence Day is suddenly upon us, and my feelings about July 4th definitely fall into this category. Watching this country walk the path she’s on is a difficult thing for a man who grew up in the time of my youth; it’s a completely different place. This year, I will forgo watching any of the fireworks & music festivals that have been a custom for many years, like A Capitol Fourth and the Boston Pops annual concert. I won’t subject my eyes or…
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Fodder Wing
I’m vocal and unapologetic about my love for and fascination with animals. This personal quirk invites people to poke fun at me, which I try to accept with good humor. I’m not the sort of person who would hoard cats in a tiny apartment or feed a chihuahua from my fork or invite a grizzly bear to eat me on camera, but I do find myself drawn to any animals near me. My wife describes me as having a “mystical connection” with wild things, and they do seem to feel comfortable approaching me. Here on this blog, a reader once described me as an “Ellie Mae,” a reference to the…
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Home Again, Home Again
It’s difficult to believe that just a day ago, we were in Texas. We arose very early in the hot darkness and pointed ourselves northeast. I started to say that we arose at zero-dark-thirty, but Hollywood has ruined yet another Marine Corps/military/masculine phrase by poaching it and using it as the title of one of its predictable, degenerate flicks some years ago. They did the same with neat phrases like “Whisky Tango Foxtrot” and will likely continue doing this until the men who once used such phrases as a brotherly jargon will never again speak them aloud. But I am writing of Texas, not Hollywood. By the time we reached…
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Wednesday In Holy Week
I overheard someone at work refer to one of their mutual acquaintances as having “a missionary’s heart.” The phrase got me to thinking about missions and my experience with missionaries. In my experience in the Protestant world, few things are more heavily lip-serviced and more lightly performed in real life than “missions.” Pretty much every church has a bulletin board or display with photos and profiles of “their” missionaries. There are regular fund-raisers, coinciding usually with the missionary and his/her family making a personal appearance before the congregation to give a report on how things are going in their particular mission field. I also saw a fair number of “mission…
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The Fourth Sunday in Lent
When Jinx and I went for our walk this morning, a group of cows was standing near the horizon, the pink-hued sun about to rise behind them. One of the cows was clearly trying to calve. I waited and watched for a minute, but Jinx was cavorting around in the field adjacent to that one, and I didn’t want to disturb the mama while she was in such a difficult situation, so I walked on. By the time we returned, she was gone. I don’t know if she gave birth to the calf, or if she simply relocated. There are so many spring calves in the pastures right now, it…