Your city may have an ocean. It may have mountains. It may have an NBA franchise, or even a Major League Soccer team. It may have real subways. It may have a happily integrated population and a vibrant downtown nightlife. But unless your city is my city, it doesn’t have an Arch. Or at...
When Linda Was Country
I recently went retro and bought three CDs, small-disc versions of LPs that I owned decades ago but haven’t heard in many years, owing to the fact that I haven’t owned a working turntable since some time in the Clinton administration. Anyway, the three CDs are: Randy Newman—Sail Away Randy Newman—Trouble In Paradise Linda...
The Meditations Of Our Hearts
Every once in a while, Pastor Dave will use these beautiful lines at the beginning or the end of a prayer: “Let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight…” The first time I heard this, it stopped me cold. I knew these words, but from...
On Brotherly Love
Today, a story about my brother Phil, who celebrates yet another birthday on this 18th day of April. Over the years, Phil has been just about anything that anyone could want in a big brother. He took me to my first concert (Linda Ronstadt), my first NFL game (Cardinals-Giants), my first World Series game...
From The Old (New) To The New (Old)
In honor of today’s St Louis Cardinals home opener, I thought I’d put up a few photos of the construction of Busch Stadium. This is, of course, the third Busch Stadium in St. Louis; the first one was on the north side of town, and the second, opened in the 1960s, was right downtown....
Two Easters, Far From Home
For a few decades there, I wasn’t much of a churcher. However, on two Easter Sundays during that time, I found myself at churches that were a long way—both geographically and ideologically—from home, and they were probably my most memorable Easters ever. Easter 1987 It was Jean’s and my first Easter together as husband...
As Lent Winds Down…
A few somewhat muddled thoughts on religion and church as Lent winds down: ***** It’s been a fascinating Lent, which started, of course, with Ash Wednesday. We went to the service at church, which in included the solemn, sobering ash ritual. I’d never gotten ashes before, and hadn’t even known Protestant churches did that....
Not Gonna Do It
Nope. I’m not going to post today. I’m not going to challenge the orthodoxy and post something on April first, because half the readers will think, wrongly, I’m trying to pull some kind of prank or something, and the other half won’t get the prank that I’m trying to pull on them. Oh, sure,...
The Arch At Sunrise
Spring Break for my family meant that I could leave home early this morning; a clear sky meant that I was able to do something I’ve never done before, which is to stroll around the Gateway Arch grounds at sunrise. It was a combination of my favorite photographic subject and my favorite time of...
List: Top Five Crushing Disappointments For St. Louis Sports Fans
This is going to hurt a while. It was supposed to be Mizzou’s year: a team full of seniors who played above expectations all season, ranked No. 3 nationally going into the NCAA Basketball Tournament. They were poised to become the first Missouri team to make it to the Final Four. But it didn’t...