Grief beyond words A few notes for Good Friday by Ken Rummer From the musical “There’s a grief that can’t be spoken.” A young man in a high-collared jacket is singing. I’ve channel-clicked into the middle of a replay of the 25th anniversary presentation of Les Miserables. (Is that Nick Jonas singing?) At this… Read more »
April 2, 2021
Sightings
Grief beyond words A few notes for Good Friday by Ken Rummer From the musical “There’s a grief that can’t be spoken.” A young man in a high-collared jacket is singing. I’ve channel-clicked into the middle of a replay of the 25th anniversary presentation of Les Miserables. (Is that Nick Jonas singing?) At this… Read more »
Rethinking winter Finding joy in a harsh season by Ken Rummer No walk this morning. The overnight temp touched -18℉ with wind chills in the 30s below zero. Brrrr. I hear that pond ice is now thickening by an inch a day. Ancient poetry from the book of Job captures the season: From its chamber… 
Looking for the new in a new year Of calendars and hope and new snow by Ken Rummer Happy New Year, everybody! Or, as we sing along with José Feliciano in “Feliz Navidad,” his fifty-year holiday hit: Próspero año y felicidad (A prosperous and happy new year). Despite the crises and disasters of the year… 
Looking for signs of hope: Maple buds and brimming cups by Ken Rummer Look for signs of hope. The teachers of resilience offer this wisdom to the storm-tossed, the overwhelmed, the anxious. You may be way ahead of me here, but it’s advice I’m trying to take. A couple of weeks ago—it was on a… 
To speak a blessing A vision and an invitation by Ken Rummer The walking path leads me along the edge of a wooded draw. Glancing down through the shadows of the trees, I notice a bright flash of light. With a turn-aside and a second look, I see that the creek has managed to pull… 
What’s getting me through these days Three tested tactics by Ken Rummer I’m a small child in a crib, struggling to breathe in the night, clogged up with what will turn out to be allergies and asthma. My crying rouses my parents who take turns responding. Being picked up and held vertically helps. I can… 
Picking Out A Frame Scripture, History and the Present Moment by Ken Rummer The canvas before us looks to be from a surrealist artist. In the center, a figure in a beaked plague mask rides a green horse. To one side, bed-sheet banners with the message “No Job, No Rent” hang from apartment windows. To… 
The pumpkin and the bee An observation by Ken Rummer The pumpkin is bigger than a softball now, in dark green with a few warty bumps. It’s something of an accident. Last fall, when our porch pumpkin sagged into mushy flatness, I carried it out back on a shovel, and deposited it, without eulogy or ceremony,… 
When words collide Bumping through the Lord’s Prayer by Ken Rummer In my pastoring days, I often invited the mourners at the graveside to join in praying the Lord’s Prayer. I suppose it was a vestige of Christendom culture, the assumption that most everyone there would know the prayer by heart, but in our rural…