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memoir

memoirMichigannature

Blizzard, Looking Out

Morning, west window The sky feels oddly bright, considering the snow thickly falling in clustered flakes. The wind gusts, whirling flakes into powder, snowglobing my backyard vista. For a moment, a cloud of white obscures the trees, the neighbors’ backyards, the whole world. I exist…
mm
February 2, 2019
dunesmemoirMichigannature

Pitcher’s Thistle

What is the value of a thistle? We don’t entirely know. I suppose God does. I suppose the little prickler gives praise to God in its own thistly way, just by being itself in cooperation with other nearby creatures being themselves. Is that enough for…
mm
August 18, 2018
memoirMichigannature

Birdsong

Suddenly I’ve realized how stupid I am. I’ve lived in this climate and latitude most of my life, surrounded by these fellow creatures going about their quick, fluttery lives, and I know almost nothing about them, not even how to recognize their voices.
mm
May 12, 2018
memoirspirituality

High-Performance Christians

We know what it’s like to be on display all the time, to be ever the responsible example, to be always leading and mentoring and discipling, striving never to fail anyone in the quest to model spiritual excellence. It’s a blessed life, of course—a privilege…
mm
March 3, 2018
cultural commentarymemoir

I’ll Take Less Choice Please

Blue Apron is a relatively new service (started in 2012) that supplies meal kits—pre-portioned ingredients and recipes—shipped in a box right to your door. Yesterday I came home to a box waiting for me on the front stoop. I opened it up to find, packed…
mm
September 17, 2016
memoirspirituality

Adamant Ties

When babies are new and tiny and soft, they curl perfectly into a certain place on your chest. If you’ve ever held a newborn, you know what I mean. Here’s what I wrote about my third baby shortly after he was born: hen I hold…
mm
May 15, 2016
memoirspirituality

A Memoir in Psalms

“Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.” — Psalm 84:5 Combine Bono, Eugene Peterson, and the Psalms, and you can have 27,400 shares on social media in just a few days. We know this because an outfit…
mm
April 30, 2016