Lewis Carroll, author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, was a chronic insomniac who often felt the urge to write at night. Living as he did before electric lights were common, he invented what he called a nyctograph, or night-writer, along with a notation system of nyctography for writing without the aid of a light.
Do you remember when the universal convention was to leave two spaces after a period rather than just one? If you do, then you’re probably as old as I am (70), or older. How did the change to one space come about? Who ever made this monumental decision?
I want to share with you a prayer that I’ve been praying lately. I’m not usually keen on canned prayers, but this one is a humdinger.
One reason for the great popularity of the children’s classic Goodnight Moon is that it’s really a prayer—a nighttime prayer of thanksgiving, a gentle, joyous litany of ordinary blessings.
Years ago my friend John had a life-changing encounter with the book of Habakkuk, an experience he recalls with deep gratitude to this day. At a point in his life when he was full of confusion and distress, in one great insight he moved from doubting God to praising Him.
My house overlooks the beautiful Muskoka River. Since moving here three years ago, I’ve made a practice in my morning quiet time of gazing out the window (or in good weather, sitting outside) to enjoy the beauties of nature, and waiting for—and expecting—something unusual to strike my attention.
My childhood friend, Dave Raymond, died at 67, having spent his last decade struggling with a rare neurological disorder called Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA), which gradually destroys a person’s ability to understand language. When Dave finally lost all ability to communicate either with spoken or written words, he became a prisoner in his own body.
One of my favorite writers, Frederick Buechner, turned 95 on July 11. If you don’t know his writing, you’re missing one of the great Christian minds, hearts, and pens of our time.
Reading the Song of Songs lately, I began to ponder why, in this short book, one verse is repeated three times.
I once counseled a young man whose problem was that he felt distant from God. We talked about many things in his life, and one of those things was sex.