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Debra Rienstra

naturespirituality

Nothing is Wasted

I’d like to believe that when someone dies young, say from cancer at age 42, leaving a young family behind, I’d like to believe that “nothing is wasted.” That’s the sort of thing we say to each other: “Even though we don’t understand, his life…
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November 14, 2015
college lifeMichigan

Wolverine Pilgrimage

In the van on the way there, I wind up sitting in the way-back with my twelve-year-old niece. She is hopelessly bored, fiddling with her phone while the grownups discuss my college’s cuts to arts programs, the difficulties faced by arts organizations, recent discoveries concerning…
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October 17, 2015
naturepoetry

Japanese Autumn

Lines Composed in an Autumn Reverie, on Visiting the Japanese Garden one Friday Afternoon, October 2015. Chrysanthemums Huddled palms direct their longing west with every gust, great frond-arms and arrow-leaves jostling, clenching, splaying. Bright chrysanthemums ensconce them, basking in slanted light, steady and splendid.
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October 2, 2015
memoirspirituality

Hallowed Ground for Humble People

Three months on from the deaths of my parents, a week out from my daughter’s wedding, I finally get back to this cloth tote bag, thoughtfully provided by the funeral home, emblazoned with its logo. I tossed into it, weeks ago, funeral materials, death certificates,…
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August 8, 2015
college lifecultural commentary

Slow Knowledge

Before the terrible shooting in Charleston on June 17, there was no Wikipedia page for the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Over the next 36 hours, 44 different editors made 152 edits to create a “solid” page, according to a fascinating blog post by librarian/blogger…
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June 27, 2015