of meaning.” Here is an example of a spiritually literate reading of a scene from a movie. In the 1995 film Smoke, Auggie Wren manages a cigar store on the corner of Third Street and Seventh Avenue in Brooklyn. Every morning at exactly eight o'clock, no matter what the weather, he takes a picture of the store from across the street. He has four thousand consecutive daily photographs of his corner all labeled by date and mounted in albums. He calls this project his "life's work." One day Auggie shows the photos to Paul, a blocked writer who is mourning the death of his wife, a victim of random street violence. Paul doesn't know what to say about the photos; ... posted on Mar 12 2024 (3,167 reads)

of the Luray Caverns. Each note reverberates across the caverns creating an otherworldly, all encompassing sound. Listen to the World's Largest Instrument It’s difficult to describe just how incredible this instrument sounds, so here is a short video from one of our favorite video creators, Great Big Story, to give you a special listen. Via: Great Big Story ³ Now, if you’re a curious sort, or musically inclined, you may have some questions about how this whole thing works. How does the sound make its way to the organ? Who plays this thing? Do you need to tune it? These are all great questions with fascinating answers. Like any instrument, the organ needs ongoing... posted on Apr 25 2024 (4,129 reads)

travel with me -- her name was Zhang Yun. She passed away, actually in a car accident a few months after she arrived and she was just a college student. I think about her often and just wanted to honor her for bringing me to the United States. In my youth and most of my childhood, I was really achievement-oriented. It wasn't for fame or money, but if I could name one thing, it was probably to honor my mama and baba -- they gave up so much of their life, to provide a future for me. I remember working on the Wall Street, fresh out of college and sort of being proud of myself for getting the hardest job to get, coming out of school. It was during my first year that I remember this very poign... posted on May 11 2024 (2,473 reads)

August 2022, my wife and I had the sublime privilege of hiking in the Canadian Rockies, urging our aging bodies forward, putting one foot in the front of the other along incessantly uphill trails. We established a daily routine not unlike preparing to go off to work: get up early to beat the crowds; pack our cameras, snacks, water, bear spray, and hiking poles; and drive to the trailhead in hopes of securing a place to park. Without knowing quite why, I found myself raising my camera often to frame the clouds that formed above and around the majestic peaks. My wife asked me if I thought the clouds and mountains were “in dialogue” (they were, at least meteorologically). Taki... posted on May 9 2024 (230 reads)

both of our two doors, the only entrances into our home, were inhabited by mothers. At the front door was a house finch sitting on five eggs in a nest hidden inside the winter’s Christmas wreath; at our side door was a mother robin, sitting on four eggs in the same nest she used last year. These birds chose to nest on our house, I assume, because they felt safety in our proximity.  It happened for the first time the year before, in mid-May. Dan had hung an old pair of olive green work pants from the light fixture on our side porch in case they had ticks on them. The next afternoon, when he went to shake them out, a robin shot out from behind the light and went squawking into o... posted on May 27 2024 (3,319 reads)