Drive-by Worship

Community Harvest Foursquare Church, Pasadena.  Sunday Service SurveyIn the good city of Pasadena, California, over 100 churches serve its population of 138,000 souls. On a recent visit, it seemed we drove by at least half of them on Sunday morning, on our way to photograph the Gamble House, an architectural treasure I’ll tell you more […]


Deer Season

Deer, in Quilt-Colored Meadow.  Friends, Good Friday steals my words. I offer you this piece instead.  UngulatesI see them most mornings, these days. Driving along our canyon road as it finds a way through the chaparral forest, I’ll spot the flick of a white tail beneath the oak canopy, or the twitch of a rabbit-shaped […]


The Reunion: Finale

My Brother, Cousin Marcia, Cousin Hugh. Ca. 1969 [Part One of this story is here. Part Two of this story is here.] We Reserve the Right to Refuse ServiceWe’ve parked the car and are walking across the restaurant’s parking lot when suddenly I wonder if bringing my cousin here for lunch wasn’t a horrible idea. What […]


The Haircut

Rich and me Before the Haircut.  What the Hairdresser Showed Me“So,” he asked me, running his fingers through my graying curls, gauging the heft of my hair, “How much time a day do you spend on your hair?” “About thirty seconds,” I said, watching him. He didn’t blanch. “And I don’t want to color it,” […]


Christmas Tourists

The Center of Attention My Best Friend’s Birthday This weekend, believers in Jesus Christ, our Savior, gather throughout the world to celebrate His birth. It was quite the event, seeing as how His arrival split history in two, freed us from sin’s bondage, and gave us eternal life. Love came down to rescue us a few […]