Cumin, curry, and Ethiopian berbere spices mingled with wood-fire smoke and dust in my nostrils; bartering voices and foreign words filled my ears at the Mercato in Addis Ababa, one of...

We were in the Easter season. I was planting a new rose bush when I snagged my finger on one of its many thorns. With greater care and watchful of those...

On the Saturday before Easter I woke up in tears, feeling completely overwhelmed. I had just given up a job that gave me worldly success so that I could live a...

My young grandson, Luka, and I settled into our seats in church on Good Friday evening. As the service began, we gazed up at the black-draped cross in the sanctuary. Various...

As a schoolteacher, I learn a lot as I try to impart knowledge and sound moral training to my young students. The greatest lesson I believe I can share is that...

Recently I left a job in which I was treated unfairly by the management. Prior to my leaving, I received information that could cause strife for the leaders of the organization....

Growing old isn’t as much fun as I had imagined. Being retired is good. But my knees don’t work as well as they used to, my aching back wakes me up...

Many years ago, after a walk in the park, my children and I were heading home. Unexpectedly, my younger daughter tore her hand from mine and ran out into the street...

At our wedding reception, a friend of my grandparents who had known me my whole life hugged me. She told me how proud my mother would have been of me. I...

I have a tiny woodworking shop in the basement of my house, and I love spending time making things. One day I was planing down a rough piece of oak timber...