It’s Always About the People
On day three of our walk we come to realize that what matters most on the way is the people. Today we met a bunch of regular folks who treated us with respect, dignity, tolerance—up to a point—and grace. A Family Venture The girl is 10 and the boy 8. This family is from Madrid and ...
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Swallow the Biggest Frogs First
Head in the Clouds The photo above is of Sally walking along the path heading to the pass through the Pyrenees Mountains. It was one of those mysterious moments in real time. On Sally’s right there is a shear drop off a cliff. We were never in any danger, but we heard stories of hikers falling ...
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Brutal Yet Beautiful Day One
Today was tough. The picture above was taken on the summit of our climb through the Pyrenees mountain range. We are beat. And we still have another seven miles to go before we are finished with this first day walk. It was brutal, and yet it was beautiful too. A Little Help From Our ...
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Sally and Marlin Walking the Way
Beginning to End We’re going on a long walk together—Sally and me. In one sense this journey began on June 6, 1969. Fifty-three years now, and we know we’re in the final stretch. It’s a winding road we’ve been on, one with hills and valleys, one at times smooth and safe, and at other ...
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WAS JESUS A RACIST?
Probably yes, but definitely no! Samaritan woman at the Well—John 4 In a recent podcast with my son Josh, I suggested the need to recognize racism as a natural human condition—that even Jesus was racist! The comment was made in passing, honestly, but as we went on I felt uneasy about having ...
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DON’T BE “THAT GUY” . . .
be better A few weeks before the 2020 presidential election, Sally and I attended a fundraising event at the site of a local charity. About twenty of us gathered for this COVID-careful affair. The evening began outdoors under canopies in the parking lot. We were pleasantly plied with drinks and ...
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PREACHING TO THE CHOIR
on purpose In a 2017 article for Harper’s Magazine, Rebecca Solnit asserts that the phrase preaching to the choir properly means “hectoring [bullying or coercing] your listeners with arguments they already agree with, and it is the common sin among radicals, the tendency to ...
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