Go to the window and see.At five o’clock in early Decemberday fades fast across the neighborhoodand night, heavy and inevitable,spreads its weight.The weary light tremblesover yards and driveways,is pushed aside, andtwilight settles in.Now established, the night growsinto a backdrop for holiday cheer:strings of glowing gumdrops, foolishand joyful, that loop in trees and lightthe eaves and roofline...  Read More

[This memoir is by a student in Susan Ault’s English Language Learner course for Hopkins schools.]Christmas preparations in Sierra Leone for Advent are different from America. In America all they do is exchange gifts and go to work.  But, in Sierra Leone people will start celebrating a week before Christmas.  On Christmas Eve, people will do a lot of grocery shopping and buy lots of meats and chic...  Read More

It is not quite December, but it is time to start peeking into all the decoration boxes.  The first thing we look for is the Advent wreath. We move aside the village houses, ornaments, and angel figurines, and finally uncover the wreath.  We place it prominently on the living room coffee table.  A reminder.  Christmas is near.There is such beauty in the greenery and the intertwining of the boughs....  Read More

“Do not be anxious about anything (do not let your heart be troubled or afraid) but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:4)As I sit down to begin writing about hope, I am distracted by the news. There was another school shooting tod...  Read More

Make me to know thy ways, O Lord            teach me thy paths.Lead me in thy truth, and teach me,            for thou art the God of my salvation            For thee I wait all the day long.(Psalm 25: 4&5) On a Black Hills hiking trip with members of Luther League many years ago, I proudly broke in my brand new Kelty backpack and relished the chance to hike something other than a county park in W...  Read More

In this world,hate never yet dispelled hate.Only love dispels hate.This is the law,ancient and inexhaustible.                        - Buddha “Love your neighbor as yourself.” This is a familiar and commonly heard Bible verse. When I was in elementary school, a boy in my class teased me about my last name: Pugh. It is pronounced “Pew” and rhymes with few. Each and every day on the playground, he w...  Read More

Excuse me, please.  But it’s Christmas Eve and I must go home -- if only for five minutes and only in my thoughts.  I have to go back on Christmas Eve.  I haven’t been there for many, many years.  Still, I have never really been away. Every Christmas, there is a string of events that takes me home.  It starts with the Christmas decorations showing up in the stores.  Then it’s the carols on the rad...  Read More

In this season of frigid days with darkAnd colder nights, the family gathers near,Rekindling older holidays to sparkMemories of ones we've always held dear.Around the house and the kitchen tableOur hearts, both young and old, feel freer, lighterThan when we're left alone.  By this we're ableTo find our Christmas dreams burn much brighter.Sometimes the ones around the table are thereIn only thought...  Read More

The flashing lights of the emergency vehicles lit the square. Even at two in the morning, a small crowd had gathered. They stood together, huddled against the cold and dark, and whispered conjectures. They knew whose tractor it was.The large metal soldier, which had stood prominent in the daylight, lay disfigured on the icy concrete. The carefully cast face flattened to an indistinguishable lump. ...  Read More

This will be a sign to you: “You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."  When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see t...  Read More

You are precious and honored in my sight,    and I love you.  (Isaiah 43:4)I have loved you with an everlasting love;    therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.  (Jeremiah 31:3)I pledged myself to you and entered into a covenant with you.  (Ezekiel 16:8)I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and in justice,      in love and compassion.  (Hosea 2:19)These a...  Read More

Balthasar and Melchior were bedded down already on the other side of the dimming campfire, and the camels had stopped their plaintive mumbling.  All was quiet on that dark night. For two days we had been traveling slowly westward under cloudy skies becoming less sure of our course for each mile we covered. Already, our homes were five days’ journey behind us. The clouds had seemed to roll in every...  Read More