Returning to the Stars

Returning to the Stars

Here is a little something special. Words from dad about one of his favorite subjects: God. I taped this conversation between he and an ER doc sometime early this summer when Dad and I made a late night trip to Silverton Hospital because his blood pressure had elevated to a… Read More

Goodbye Dad

Goodbye Dad

Last night, at 9:55, in a hospital room in Portland, my father took his last breath. I was sitting beside him on his bed. Shameem was standing beside him, my dear friend Nancy Boutin was with him. Nancy is a palliative care doctor and she knows about death, and she… Read More

The Everything of Everything

The Everything of Everything

Me at the top of Abiqua Falls in 1994, in the midst of a battle to save the surrounding trees from being clear cut It is my fifty-fifth birthday today. And for my fifty-fifth birthday, I plan to hike to the  base of Abiqua Falls. I plan to stand naked… Read More

Live, Love and Forgive

Live, Love and Forgive

I was honored to be asked to contribute to a new book that just came out this week entitled LIVE, LOVE AND FORGIVE, Insights from Artists, edited by Justin St. Vincent in cooperation with The Fetzer Institute. The new book is filled with short essays from musicians, film makers, photographers, writers,… Read More

Religion as Story

Religion as Story

On Good Friday I found a vulture lying in the middle of the road, wings spread wide as if crucified. Blood pooled under its belly. And I wondered about the meaning: a dead vulture on Good Friday, its brethren circling overhead. A day hallowed by people around the globe, heads… Read More

Don’t be a Sucker for Online Quizzes

Don’t be a Sucker for Online Quizzes

They are everywhere. What Downtown Abbey Character are you? What Superhero? Font? There is even one to help you discover – get this – “What Arbitrary Thing Are You?” Really? Are we that fricking board? Self absorbed? Lost? What? You know I was in Guatemala last week, and I did… Read More