Listening to the pines Tree wisdom for pandemic life by Ken Rummer From my favorite pew at church — yes, even retired ministers tend to sit in the same place on Sunday — from that special spot I can look up and out through the clear windows around the cross and see the tops… Read more »
June 5, 2020
Sightings
Listening to the pines Tree wisdom for pandemic life by Ken Rummer From my favorite pew at church — yes, even retired ministers tend to sit in the same place on Sunday — from that special spot I can look up and out through the clear windows around the cross and see the tops… Read more »
Feeling steadier now What I learned from walnut and light by Ken Rummer The bench seat feels smooth under my hand. Finally. It’s been a journey. The three walnut boards that form the seat started out rough-sawn, still sporting splinter fuzz and tooth arcs from the sawmill. I brought them through jointing and… 
The goldfinch and the virus With a word and a prayer by Ken Rummer Walking the trail yesterday, I caught a flash of yellow in the wild plum stems—a goldfinch, the first I’ve seen this season. After last week’s snow, I took it as a welcome sign of spring. Red-winged black birds perched along… 
Poking around in the ashes A reflection for Lent by Ken Rummer Last year’s palm branches are burning down to ashes as I write. Tonight we will receive a smudge of those ashes on our foreheads as we repent and remember and head into the wilderness with Jesus. Growing up, I didn’t have much… 
Singing Hallelujah Even when you don’t feel like it by Ken Rummer The hurting and disappointed pieces of my heart have found a ballad they can sing in Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” While I’ve been working on the song in choir practice, the song has been working on me. Out of eighty-some verses he had written,… 
Desperate journeys And a word of blessing by Ken Rummer Aunt Betty came down to the depot to see us off. We didn’t have any food with us. It was raining…. By the time we got to Columbus we were all starving, so Dad got off to get us something to eat. He missed the… 
Boxes For Memories A Christmas Project by Ken Rummer A box to put memories in. That’s my current project in the wood shop. The vision came from a friend who was sorting through her late husband’s drawer of keepings. She wanted to pass some of them on to family, along with a few items… 
The scary wonder of stillness A brief experiment by Ken Rummer Tiny blooms of frost aster show white along the trail, leaves on our maple tree sport a crazy quilt of orange and green and red, and the mid-morning temp is only in the 50s. Here in Iowa, where we take pride in hosting… 
What I’ve Noticed About Retirement So Far 10 Observations from Year Three by Ken Rummer 1. Getting the hang of retirement takes time. People told me it would take a year and a half. Retirement did start to feel less awkward about then. But even now, in my third year of retirement, I’m not… 
Faith at the Opera Thaïs and Athaniël by Ken Rummer The holiest person in all the land sets out to convert the most notorious sinner. What could possibly go wrong? The story, staged in the opera Thaïs (tah-eece), takes place in Roman Egypt in the AD 300s. Athaniël is a Christian monk renowned for his…