On Christmas Eve at 8:00 a.m. Frank Chase put the key in the lock of Jingle Town, his Christmas store.
Category Archives: Stories and Excerpts
Christmas to Me: A Story by Harper Lee
Like many people, one of my top ten favorite novels of all time is Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Here is a Christmas story she wrote about how that marvelous book came to be. Published in McCall’s Magazine in 1961, I’ve shortened it slightly, but you can read the full version here.
The Power of the Cross: Three Stories for Holy Cross Day
Listen to a short homily I delivered in our church this week in observance of Holy Cross Day.
Psalm 100: Ten Joyful Commandments
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth!
Worship the Lord with gladness,
come before Him with joyful songs!
~Psalm 100:1-2
Jesus Alone: The Crossroads
The disciples were looking around, rubbing their eyes, seeing nothing but Jesus, only Jesus. ~ Mark 9:8, The Message
The Parable of the Birds Remixed
We all know the parable of the birds, in which a man on Christmas Eve sees a flock of birds huddled in the snow, cold and miserable. He tries to entice them into his warm barn, but being afraid, they want nothing to do with him.
Holy Feet: A Maundy Thursday Story
Here’s an excerpt from a new novel I’m working on. In this story, my protagonist Nathan’s father lies incapacitated in a care home, in an advanced state of Alzheimer’s. Initially unable to communicate with his father at all, and feeling profoundly alienated, over the course of many visits Nathan gradually learns to express, and to receive, love.
Pinocchio: The Rest of the Story
This story was published nearly forty years ago in my book The Furniture of Heaven & Other Parables for Pilgrims. I wonder if it rings any bells for you today?
At Home with Mary, Martha, & Lazarus: Imagined Scenarios
Here’s a little piece from the new book I’m working on, a collection of parables. It has a few twists and turns, so hang on!
Infinity in Four Chair Legs: More Ordinary Quotes
If you’ve read my book Same Old, Same New: The Consolation of the Ordinary you’ll know that it’s full of quotes.