The boat came first; a classic wooden sailboat, a 12 ½ ft. gaff-rigged Buzzard’s Bay beauty. We called her “Shearwater”. We had rented several houses in the area over the

Peace. Pax. Shalom. Salaam. Paix. Pace. In any language, such a small word for such an immense and daunting enterprise. “May there be peace in our time” pleads the ancient

The narrow stream was filled with leaves and mud, causing it to back up to the pond where it would often overflow and creep into our backyards, heading dangerously towards

One evening a week or two ago, I was talking with my daughter in Australia.  She was in the middle of her workday, the time difference between Massachusetts and Melbourne

I knew her first as the mother of a little girl who always wore shiny, sparkly red shoes to church.  I noticed what a kick she got out of the

Tinker Bell was fast losing her light.  She had drunk the poison intended for Peter Pan. In desperation, Peter turned to the the audience and asked, “Do you believe in

I’m 77 today, 7 weeks after getting a new knee.  There must be a message somewhere in all these sevens.  Not wisdom, exactly, but a new insight or two. For

I’m not really sure why this memory came to mind yesterday.  Maybe it’s because we are at the height of the strawberry season here in Massachusetts. Every day we gobble

She was six weeks old when adopted.  She grew up in the last third of the twentieth century with a younger brother, mother and father and an extended family of

Have you heard of a woman called Jochebed?  I certainly hadn’t, although I went to seminary, studied the Bible in depth and knew her story well. And even if you

I am always really grateful when a reader of  thepollypapers tells me, either in person or on-line, that one of my blogs arrived exactly when they needed it. You can

Several orange warning lights appeared all at once on the instrument panel, a few minutes after I had started down the road for a week away.  None of the lights