“Come back and see us,” she said. “We’ll be here.” And as we turned in our coats to go, she caught me once more: “And enjoy yourselves. Have fun.” This was just after she’d said she was bored of bingo, and couldn’t they offer more activities for the long, dark nights at the nursing home? She’d worked her…
We learned how to be at home even as we stayed at home in 2020. We planted zinnias and baked bread from scratch and walked the countryside and waved to our neighbors, and to me, it’s all felt very Shire-like. If my friends weren’t losing their grandparents or my church members slipping out of fellowship, I wouldn’t…
Samwise had climbed too many stairs with Shagrat drooling on his heels. He’d blasted through Cirith Ungol’s gates with Galadriel’s light. He’d searched every black corner for Frodo, and now, his master was a tower trapdoor out of reach. So Sam sang nursery rhymes into Mordor. “He murmured old childish tunes out of the Shire,…
The internet isn’t just bawling with dark news and death tolls these days. Look a little closer and you’ll find stories— hopeful ones. Old people still madly in love, communities using the web to unite, neighbors singing the Doxology from their porches at nine sharp each morning. And then there’s the story God’s spinning smack…
