I grew up in central Texas with huge pecan trees that shaded our house in the summer. When the leaves fell in the fall, they left behind bare branches bearing thousands of pecans.

I stepped up to the counter and handed the cashier my $20 bill. She glanced at me, lifted the bill up to the light, squinted and examined it, then laid it on the counter.

New beginnings are always exciting. Weddings with candles and flowers, beautiful bridesmaids, handsome groomsmen, laughter, toasts and dancing; the birth of a baby wrapped in blankets, showered with gifts; graduations with speeches about dreams and possibilities; a new job; and a new home. S…

This Saturday, we will celebrate the Fourth of July, a uniquely American holiday. No other nation has a holiday quite like it. No other nation on Earth has aspired to a higher and simpler ideal.

I don’t remember when I learned the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag. I guess it was sometime before I learned to read or write, probably when I first entered school.

A strange thing has happened in our neighborhood.

Maybe our gardens will save us during this coronavirus crisis. Most of us are going crazy trying to “shelter in place.” And even though the stay-at-home orders from all levels of government are pretty much over as of today, there’s still much to be said for tinkering in the garden.

Some of you will remember that we adopted Buddy, a tri-color corgi, 11 years ago after he was found starving on the streets of Fort Worth. I wrote his story for my grandkids, “just the way Buddy told it to me.” I named the story “Buddy the Floppy Ear Corgi” because his left ear flopped when …

Every week or so, John Mark Reynolds does something that presidents of academic institutions rarely do: He cleans his office at Saint Constantine School.

Worship leaders and parishioners come up with new ways to celebrate Easter virtually during coronavirus pandemic.

The U.S. Surgeon General predicted this would be the hardest and saddest week we have faced since COVID-19 reached our shores.

A week ago, my wife and I went for a walk, keeping our 6-foot distance from others. Two children rode up on their bikes, a brother and sister ages 8 and 6. They asked us to come to their house, so we could play with them.

The COVID-19 emergency is transforming how some congregations celebrate Easter, Passover and other religious traditions.

Last Saturday afternoon, my wife and I invited a group of our neighbors to bring their lawn chairs and meet in our driveway. Ten of us showed up and positioned our chairs 6 feet apart. A few had met, but most didn't know each other. Under the ominous cloud of the coronavirus, our neighbors w…

You’re used to perusing these pages for the activities of faith groups around the county. While that will continue, you’ll also find more and more cancellations in this space because of the ongoing threat of the coronavirus.

A Washington D.C., rector catches the coronavirus after offering Communion to his congregants. Now, they have been asked to self-quarantine. A headline states that an out-of-the-mainstream Korean church’s practices have led to a hotbed of coronavirus cases since parishioners were made to sit…

Last year, two robins built their nest in the Aspen tree in front of our house. I named them Fred and Ethel.