Advent 3: Incarnation

Saint John of the Mall wasn’t where I expected him to be. He had been by the coffee place. I thought it was his regular place. My friend Brenda knew him, after all. But here he was, sitting in front of The Children’s Place. With his feet out. Where I could trip over them. “They […]

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Advent 2: Anticipating a conversation

We have other obligations most Sundays. So it wasn’t until Monday morning that we went walking again. I looked for the man from Saturday. “Saint John of the Mall” Brenda had called him. We started our walk at Red Robin. We tossed our coats on the bench near the door. At 7:00 on the Monday […]

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Advent 1: Saint John of the Mall

Nancy and I started walking at the mall a few winters back. It saved our lives. That sounds dramatic, like it kept us from a heart attack. For all we know, it has. But we started talking every day while we walked. And since then, we’ve weathered a variety of life events. Deaths of parents, […]

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Looking forward to Advent

I’ve had mixed feelings about Advent and Christmas for years. Everyone’s happy and I get more melancholy. There are expectations of great love and great presents and great programs, and I feel inadequate. But several years ago, I began to understand that spending time in preparation can help us handle seasons of expectation with wisdom […]

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