Buddy, Have You Got the Time?

The clock in the middle of the Grand Central Station on 42nd St in New York City shows up in lots of movies and TV shows. It rises above the waves of people who crisscross the vast concourse like a beacon light for all to consult. Both locals and out-of-towners give a passing glance at one of its four faces for the time of day, but, perhaps more to find a reassuring “still point” of orientation on a deeper level.

“Meet me at the clock.” Sounds easy, doesn’t it?

But during rush hour on a busy weekday morning or evening, “Meet me at the clock” turns into a daunting assignment, sort of like looking for a needle in a haystack, when the hay is constantly in motion!

If you ever have a chance to go there, spend a few minutes standing still, out there in the middle. Look, really look, at the thousands of people who sail by. Some look ahead with a frantic determined gaze. “I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date.”

Others scan the horizon in several directions, first toward the train platforms, then to the TV monitors announcing arrivals. Reunions and goodbyes abound, exhilaration and tears. Memories are made of this.

Buddy, have you got the time?

Lazy Days of Summer

This beautiful scene from Lewes in Delaware suggests a quiet, lazy summer day at many places along the Eastern Seaboard.

Part of the reason for the “quiet” is the cost of gasoline just to start the engine on any one of these small yachts for a spin around the Delaware Bay or other inland waterways which flow eastward toward the Atlantic Ocean.

Fishing trips that used to set off daily from these piers are now turning into dockside outings where friends visit and enjoy the ebb and flow of the tides through the day, but the lines are never cast off and there is no roar of engine or wake left behind.

Aah! The quiet lazy days of summer 2008!

Eyes, Ears and Hands for the Lord

Each time we pray the Lord’s prayer, we petition that “Thy Kingdom Come.”

In a very real sense we are also committing ourselves to be the human instruments, the hands and feet, eyes and ears through which the values of the Lord’s kingdom does indeed come among us now.

Even though we may think of ourselves as limited and fragile instruments of God’s kingdom, the master craftsman knows best how to use all that we are.

Color me happy!

Photography was born as a black and white medium. B/W photos continue to have a strong effect for bringing out character in a face. Some of the most dramatic photos of world leaders, or difficult situations, are best rendered in terms of black and white.

But since we tend to “see” in color, we can appreciate details more easily sometime when the colors contrast with one another.

Put a little color in your life today!

Pardon, My Mistake!

We all make mistakes sometime…some are little ones, some are a little more significant.

If you need a bigger eraser, you might pick this one up for yourself in the sculpture garden in downtown Washington, D.C….although taking it away without permission might be the biggest mistake of your life.

Let’s stick to small mistakes as best we can.

Enjoy the ride!

George Ferris invented the first Ferris Wheel for the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893…replicas of the original are now found throughout the world. Organizers of the Exposition wanted something fantastic to show America was greater than France which had erected the Eiffel Tower at the previous Exposition there.

The ferris wheel pictured here is in Ireland at a seaside town in August.

Enjoy the ride!

I Look to the Mountains

As the psalm says, I look to the mountains, whence comes my help.

Mountains are special to me. They convey strength, challenge, but also something comforting in their beauty with the change of seasons.

What do mountains say to you?

Oasis in the Eternal City

On a hot Rome day in August, there is nothing more refreshing than a few minutes lounging by one of the two gigantic fountains in the Piazza of San Pietro.

“Aah, coolness in the heat!” A reminder of the Spirit that broods over the waters of creation….and over us today.

Let There Be Peace

Here and there you might see these peace posts popping up. They serve as reminders of the challenge and the goal for the groups who are placing them in retreat house gardens and church yards and other places where we can all be inspired.

So let there be peace.

A Lazy Afternoon

A quiet afternoon soothes the soul.