Category Archives: spirit

Little bitty Christmas trees.

Posted on December 22, 2017 by cheapskateintellectual

A rerun from 2011 that’s been on my mind. Merry Christmas, y’all. — “I’ve been a pastor for more than 15 years, and I am still amazed at folks in nursing homes, many unable to remember the majority of their … Continue reading →

Posted in community, mystery, seasons, spirit, the South | Leave a comment

Doing justice.

Posted on June 10, 2017 by cheapskateintellectual

Delivered as a guest sermon at First United Methodist Church, June 11, 2017, for Peace and Justice Sunday. Psalm 8: “When I look at thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou has established; … Continue reading →

Posted in community, politics, spirit | 2 Comments

The arts, for real.

Posted on March 28, 2017 by cheapskateintellectual

So. They want to cut the arts. Just something else for the talking heads to get worked up about. Just another aspect of someone else’s lifestyle luxuries you’re being expected to support. Except it’s not. You’re driving home at the … Continue reading →

Posted in art, culture, spirit | 1 Comment

The Women’s March: here, there, and everywhere.

Posted on January 24, 2017 by cheapskateintellectual

Saturday, January 21, 2017 It felt good to be out on our little town’s main street with a sign in my hand again, surrounded by my friends and students and – despite the chilly fog – determination and hope. As … Continue reading →

Posted in community, Driftless region, politics, resilience, spirit, women | 6 Comments

Life in the word.

Posted on January 4, 2017 by cheapskateintellectual

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that … Continue reading →

Posted in animals, conservation, home, resilience, spirit, the South | 2 Comments

Putting our hands on it.

Posted on February 19, 2016 by cheapskateintellectual

Today in Internet horror: rare Argentine dolphin dies after being passed around by a selfie-taking crowd. Sticky and sandy and dry and eager, eager, seeking hands, all over that moist skin, sucking its moisture away in curiosity or excitement or … Continue reading →

Posted in animals, conservation, spirit, technology | Leave a comment

Entertaining angels, unawares.

Posted on November 22, 2015 by cheapskateintellectual

I took my late grandmother’s nativity scene out early today.  It’s white ceramic that looks like china: three kings, a shepherd, Holy Family, and two sheep.  This could have been a graceful afternoon project I imagine my grandmother doing with … Continue reading →

Posted in community, politics, spirit | 2 Comments

The angels of Bread Loaf.

Posted on June 7, 2015 by cheapskateintellectual

All around me in the half-light of thirty thousand feet, people abandon themselves to sleep: mouths slack as babies’, heads lolled back. A brown-skinned woman in a pale turban dozes under an airline blanket that in this light is startling … Continue reading →

Posted in art, community, gratitude, spirit, writing | 6 Comments

The museum of the too-good-to-use.

Posted on November 21, 2014 by cheapskateintellectual

“My mother had a collection of old lace, which was famous among her friends, and a few fragments of it still remain to me, piously pinned up in the indigo-blue paper supposed (I have never known why) to be necessary … Continue reading →

Posted in home, spirit, stuff, the past | 1 Comment

Dreams of sun.

Posted on May 2, 2014 by cheapskateintellectual

There’s a particular kind of sleep that waits for you when you’ve been outside working all day, especially in a garden: a kind of heavy, instant falling-off that nevertheless feels light, as if your sleep-sodden body might lift and rise … Continue reading →

Posted in attention, gardening, mystery, seasons, spirit | 4 Comments