Prayers
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The Hardening Of The Heart
I managed to stay awake until almost midnight last night, intermittently checking the election returns. When I finally went to sleep at 1145 pm, Biden had 223 electoral votes and President Trump had 166. Still, things looked very hopeful for Mr. Trump. My wife couldn’t sleep and got up before 400 am to check the election status, so I got up with her. Our reaction was the exact opposite of how we felt four years ago when we awakened to the news that Hilary Clinton was not going to get to grind her boot in our faces for four years. I had been telling family and friends for months that…
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All I Can Do
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Prayer’s Labyrinth
I received a call today from a friend who asked my wife and me to pray for her family. To say that they are walking in the valley of shadows would be an understatement. I promised that we would be praying for the family and asked her to keep us updated and to let us know if we can do anything of a hands-on nature. Then on the way home, I passed a state trooper headed in the opposite direction. He must have been doing 80mph in a 40 mph zone, lights and siren going. Right behind him were two ambulances, flashing and wooping with equal dynamic presence. I crossed…
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Tang In The Air
Last night, Mrs. Orr and our little elderly dog Dixee accompanied Jinx and me when we went for our twilight walk. The sun, far below the horizon and providing just a rosy glow, gave an otherworldly cast to the air. The stars were already visible, little faraway dots of fire, and man and wife talked in hushed tones between the mowed pastures while the dogs scampered and explored. This morning, when Jinx and I went out into the lightly-frosted world, I was almost in a trance of joy, drinking in the pre-dawn chilled purity of morning, the air better than any drink or drug. I remember as a teenager, taking…
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Okay, Then…
It’s 0530 as I write this, and the temperature is 43F, with a sunny 73F forecast for the afternoon. When I pulled back the shower curtain a while ago, the spider was sitting there, just underneath the spout. He currently resides somewhere out in the back yard…dry and unharmed, but much chillier than he would have been had I not disturbed him. Which brings up the question…am I ever allowed to wander into circumstances that necessitate God removing me from them, removals which elicit grumbling and questions and frowns? I’m well aware that I’m in the tedious territory usually occupied by college students polishing off a bottle of wine in…
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Drained
This morning when I awoke, it was 46F. It will get down to about the same temperature tonight. The day was one of those luminous ones, the kind that start with swirling showers of yellow and gold and red leaves, the kind with high puffy clouds riding across the sky so blue it frightens the eyes, clouds lit from within with the high-wattage bulb of glory, the kind where the warm, buttery air carries within it the scent and hint of the frost that is coming on like a jove, the killing, revivifying frost, the dear rime of the earth’s whirl. It was a difficult day to be trapped inside…
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Cool And Clear
It occurs to me that I write daily temperatures on my calendar and/or in my notebooks. In the interest of avoiding redundancy, I think I’ll start noting temperatures in these blog entries (on the days I actually write blog entries). This morning it was 46F and very clear when Jinx and I set out on our walk. I took vacation this week, just to relax and enjoy the fall weather and do a few projects around the house (some painting, a final mowing of the lawn, some trash hauling, etc.), so the feeling of bliss and freedom and peace was exquisite when I donned my jacket and cap and took…
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Waiting
So many people I know have told me that the current dismal situation has affected them in unmistakable ways. One of the most common things I hear is that an air of depression-while-waiting-for-the-shoe-to-drop has settled down upon them. A sense of “Why bother?” A feeling of “I don’t want to undertake anything substantial right now because….who knows what’s coming?” A nihilistic bleakness, a sneering cynicism, a crisis-choked standstill period of time that seems like a Pink Floyd lyric come to life. It does feel that way, doesn’t it? And it’s easy, oh, so easy, to get caught up in that sort of feeling, and let it start calling the…
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All The Help
While getting ready for work, I glanced down at the trash can in my bathroom. In stark relief against the white interior was a daddy longlegs (harvestman), busily scrambling in an attempt to escape from the situation he’d gotten himself into. Watching the little thing, I thought back to the day when my wife rescued a chipmunk from a wading pool in our back yard. By the time she discovered it, the poor creature had almost exhausted itself swimming round and round, trying to find a way out of the circular and watery hell into which it had fallen. She lifted the chipmunk out and laid it on the grass,…
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The Air Above
The three-day weekend was a lovely time of relaxation for my wife and me, helped along in no small part by the weather. The air has changed, the sun’s power seemingly more remote, and the nighttime chill very pleasant. The dogs let us sleep in all three mornings, and we kept windows open during the night, the cool temperatures lulling us and soothing our tired limbs. It’s easy for me to forget how restorative sleep is until I reach a certain point of exhaustion and then am allowed to catch up. The word “rejuvenation” comes closest to how it feels, and this morning I feel rejuvenated. On Sunday, Jinx brought…