Nature

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Approaching advent

APPROACHING ADVENT

We are privileged to live on a planet such as our Earth.  Of the several thousands of planets discovered over the past thirty years, most are gaseous and those few that have discernable hard surfaces appear to be rocky and barren, inhospitable for any one of a number of reasons.  Some scientists remain optimistic that there are still planets capable of sustaining life as we know it “out there” somewhere (to paraphrase Fox Mulder) but others wonder where they are if this...

The Connecticut Shore

THE CONNECTICUT SHORE

Deena and I had an opportunity this past weekend to spend time on the Connecticut shore.  We stayed on the ocean’s edge in the Mercy by the Sea retreat center run by the Sisters of Mercy, a Catholic charity.  Deena and I are Protestants, but no one was checking ID’s.  It was a wonderful interlude where we could enjoy the peace of nature with the silent ambience of an organization that branched off centuries ago from the Carmelites.  This post is an account of our stay. THE...

The Secret Life of Trees

THE SECRET LIFE OF TREES

This is an updated post to include additional information. I have had a few thoughts of trees lately. It’s autumn in New England, and though my wife and I live in upstate New York, the spectacular colors of fall do not stop at the Vermont border. Also, living with a forest in our backyard provides us with ample reminders that winter is fast approaching as thousands of leaves, blown by the wind, scurry across our driveway daily like shifting sand....

A Prayer for our Earth

A PRAYER FOR OUR EARTH

I believe the world and our nation are being threatened and fractured as never before. In the U.S., we see families bitterly divided over politics, prudent medical treatments, national aspirations and current events. Hundreds of thousands of people are migrating across national boundaries here and on other continents, driven by hunger, war, and despair to uncertain futures and all too often, to hostile welcomes. People are desparately searching for spiritual answers in life. But, we evangelicals who have these answers,...

You can only imagine

MORE THINGS IN HEAVEN AND EARTH

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, then are dreamt of in your philosophy.” –Hamlet, Act I, Scene V In the quote above, as Hamlet feigns madness, Hamlet informs his friend Horatio that there is more afoot than meets the eye, and that Horatio should not be so quick to judge or come to a hasty conclusion until he has all the facts. Check out the iceberg in the 3D representation to the right. Notice how the smallest...

Harvest time in the country

HARVEST TIME IN THE COUNTRY

Adozen deer pass swiftly and silently through the wood in the waning light. The mercury on the thermometer drops hesitantly as the harvest moon rises over the Blue Mountain. Frogs, Crickets and Cicadas join Katydids in the evening sonata, perhaps for the la fin du concert of the year. Later, the ruffle of feathers in the darkness will herald the arrival of the Horned Owl flying at the speed of night as it pursues its prey. Bears go through our...

Catskill Mountains

MOUNTAIN SOUNDS

Those of you who have read my biography know that I am a child of the Catskills, though I spent forty of the last forty-two years in Texas. Now, there are many commendable things about Texas, though with few exceptions, it cannot compete with upstate New York in terms of vistas and the diversity and sheer numbers of living creatures. The mountain sounds which their abundance of life are music to one’s ears. The land in most of Texas (excluding the Hill...

Catskill Mountains

OF THINGS VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE

This is not the view from my front door, but it’s close. However, what you actually see depends on the time of day and the atmospherics, because sometimes you see rows of mountains as in this photo, and some times you see nothing at all except a fairly flat horizon bordered on the upper margin by clouds or fog (most recently, smoke from the wildfires in California, 3,000 miles away.) But regardless of whether the mountains are visible or whether...

Bear in my driveway

AND SPEAKING OF CLOSE ENCOUNTERS…

In my essay from earlier this week (Are we alone in the universe?), I speak of close encounters of the first kind (“visual sighting of an unidentified flying object seemingly less than 500 feet away”); close encounters of the second kind (“a physical effect, such as electronic interference…”), etc. This incident on my driveway would be called a close encounter of the seventh kind (“lovestruck bear looking for mate crashes Fourth of July barbecue in the Catskills”) I call the...

Serene pool with waterfall in the Catskill mountains

A CATSKILL MOUNTAIN HOMECOMING

“Whoever has made a voyage up the Hudson must remember the Kaatskill mountains. They are a dismembered branch of the great Appalachian family, and are seen away to the west of the river, swelling up to a noble height, and lording it over the surrounding country. Every change of season, every change of weather, indeed, every hour of the day produces some change in the magical hues and shapes of these mountains; and they are regarded by all the good...

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