Pinch Me Places: The Abbey of Gethsemani

Sometime in 1999 or 2000, I made my first journey to the crossroads of Trappist, Kentucky, for a four-day silent prayer retreat at the Abbey of Gethsemani, a real, live, honest-to-goodness monastery. That was strange and surreal enough, but what made this a "pinch me place" was the fact that it is the monastery where Thomas Merton, author of The Seven Storey Mountain and many classics of contemplative literature, lived and served God as Father Louis (his monastic name). He is buried in a humble grave alongside his brothers in the monastic cemetery. 

The abbey has since become an annual place of prayer and pilgrimage for me. But fifteen or so years ago, it was definitely a "pinch me place." 

Hoss Magazine at Barnes & Noble, Union Center

No one got my permission to name a home renovation magazine after me. The nerve!

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Bob's Sticks

Yes, I noticed that "Bob's Sticks" are both cheap...AND "Olde Timey." Just like Bob.

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Pinch Me Places: The Teaching Steps of the Temple

Of all the "pinch me" places the lovely Robin and I have visited over the years, the "teaching steps" of the Temple in Jerusalem, excavated in 1967, are at the top of the list.

These are the steps on which Jesus sat to teach his disciples and other listeners in the crowds who followed him and hung on his words (Luke 19:47-48, for example). It is one of those "pinch me places" in the Holy Land where pilgrims can say, literally, "I walked today where Jesus walked."

CF Benefit Night at Grand Finale

What a joy it was tonight to be joined by a great crowd of family and friends for our CF Benefit Night at Grand Finale, to benefit our family's fight to find a cure for cystic fibrosis (on behalf of our grandchildren, Calleigh and Ryder).

And that wasn't even everyone (for instance, our friends Brad and Treena Newcomer came in just as we were leaving, with their family)!

Thank you to all who joined in the event, and to Grand Finale (in Glendale, a northern suburb of Cincinnati) for making the event possible. And also to Robin for allowing me three (count 'em, three) bites of her puff pastry dessert!

Sabbath Walk, March 9, 2014

A lovely day for a Sabbath Walk...with Ender (our Shiba Inu), Aubrey, Kevin, Calleigh, and Ryder.

The Broadmoor

The lovely Robin and I are so happy to return to the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, one of the finest hotels in the world. I am here as a speaker for the Writing for the Soul Conference, hosted by some guy named Jerry Jenkins. I hear he writes books, too.


While a large portion of this sprawling hotel is undergoing renovations, our room is unaffected. It couldn't be more comfortable. We are tempted to assert squatter's rights and stay forever, instead of leaving Sunday as we are scheduled to do.

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