Author Archives: joyocala

It’s still dark out. Way too early to get out of bed. And yet this song won’t get out of my ears . . . The 1974 Karen Carpenter hit, “Close to You.” Over and over, the lilting tune calls … Continue reading →

Recent epistle readings by James have been very interesting and challenging. Several weeks ago, James wrote a warning about the tongue and the trouble that it can get you into. He notes that a great forest can be burned by … Continue reading →

Author Anne Lamott was visiting the Hiroshima Memorial in Japan where she encountered a Hawaiian group performing folk songs. The singers were greeted enthusiastically by the Japanese. She pondered the significance of the first Americans attacked by the Japanese and … Continue reading →

In the fall of 1973 I saw Duke Ellington and his orchestra perform; I was very fortunate, for he was to die the next year. The concert was held on the Wake Forest campus in Wait Chapel, which seats about … Continue reading →

My blogs are taking on the appearance of juxtaposing two different ideas. Last week was “On or Off?” I feel like it’s a helpful tool to get ideas flowing. When I propose the question that my title for today suggests, … Continue reading →

It was 5th grade. Gym class was an “outdoor sport” at our little wooden schoolhouse, and kickball was a regular choice. Now let me share first that I was not the least bit athletic; I was totally uncoordinated. One fine … Continue reading →

Ezekiel, God’s prophet, saw in a vision, a valley of dry bones and was instructed to speak to the bones telling them that God would breathe new life into them. Ezekiel 37. You can probably sing the song based on … Continue reading →

In celebration of growing old! Yes, you read that right . . . I’m happy for every wrinkle in my brow, every brown spot on my face, every silver hair on my head. They represent one more opportunity to praise … Continue reading →

Originally posted on February 29, 2016 When you see “lifetime guarantee” on a product, do you wonder whose lifetime- the consumer, the product, or the producer? The lifetime of any of these could be today, ten or twenty years from … Continue reading →

Eric Hoffer (1898-1983) was a longshoreman working the San Francisco docks when he published his provocative book The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements. He explored the nature of fanatical, extremist movements including Fascists, Nazis, and Communists. … Continue reading →