1. With each passing year, this world holds less charm – less light in the dark nights of the soul. The desire for a view of something over and above it all creeps in ever more. This world where we humans live slinks toward dehumanizing. Only in the promised forever do I see hope for being all we were made to be. The irony of moving towards death is the promise of finally life.

2. There is a passage in Endo’s Silence where Rodrigues thinks about his captors and their cruelty and comes to the realization that this is sin. Not stealing and lying as most imagine. That truth makes it possible for him to pray in his misery. And that’s why I can’t read it quickly.

3. Stars are prone to fall.

4. My son cried the other night as he talked about going backing to school and I felt for him because of Sunday nights.

5. I’ve got this old Merle Haggard record that contains whole worlds of dusty truths.

6. Leisurely enjoying a good meal makes us more human.

7. I wish Christmas lights stayed up all year.

8. A celebrity obsessed culture will evaluate the year by the loss of them.

9. We’ve been listening to the Avett Brothers a lot in our house because we could do with kindness in this world of  cold weights and measures.

10. Sometimes after a particularly demoralizing day at work, I’ll buy flowers for Bethany. Don’t be impressed too much. It makes me feel better. And therein lies a wisdom older than all the stars.