Celie, teacher of ESL students, works with Gioi from Vietnam, Daniyel from Israel, Suk from South Korea and others, convinced she learns more from them than they from her. She persuades Chau to relate his family's escape from Vietnam, which he refuses to put into print. Celie will never look at a grain of rice in the same way again. What will happen to Valeria whose family came from Bogota to escape the danger of drug lords? When Celie learns Valeria likes to swim, Celie invites her to accompany her to swim at the Y. She notices Valeria is gaining weight yet has complained of morning...

Celie, teacher of ESL students, works with Gioi from Vietnam, Daniyel from Israel, Suk from South Korea and others, convinced she learns more from them than they from her. She persuades Chau to relate his family's escape from Vietnam, which he refuses to put into print. Celie will never look at a grain of rice in the same way again. What will happen to Valeria whose family came from Bogota to escape the danger of drug lords? When Celie learns Valeria likes to swim, Celie invites her to accompany her to swim at the Y. She notices Valeria is gaining weight yet has complained of morning...

The neat thing about getting old is that you can flirt outrageously with anyone you want, and they don't take you seriously. Or maybe they do 101 Poems and Philosophies includes poems and mini-essays about growing older. Oh, what fun it is, arthritis, dementia, and enough anxiety to see you to the cemetery and beyond. In a serious vein, some pieces present hope for end-of-life issues and, indeed, for the "beyond."

The neat thing about getting old is that you can flirt outrageously with anyone you want, and they don't take you seriously. Or maybe they do 101 Poems and Philosophies includes poems and mini-essays about growing older. Oh, what fun it is, arthritis, dementia, and enough anxiety to see you to the cemetery and beyond. In a serious vein, some pieces present hope for end-of-life issues and, indeed, for the "beyond."

In Holy Encounters, we listen to the other person's pain--listen, just listen--and let God's holy word breathe through us to speak words of comfort and healing to a fellow sufferer. Such holy moments prove that to be alive is to be blessed. Sooner or later suffering comes to us all. We may ask, "Why?" But then we need to ask also, "Why is there beauty?" "Why is there redemption?" "Why does the daffodil bloom every April?" As the folk song says, the answer is blowin' in the wind, in the breath of God. It's spelled H-O-P-E.

In Holy Encounters, we listen to the other person's pain--listen, just listen--and let God's holy word breathe through us to speak words of comfort and healing to a fellow sufferer. Such holy moments prove that to be alive is to be blessed. Sooner or later suffering comes to us all. We may ask, "Why?" But then we need to ask also, "Why is there beauty?" "Why is there redemption?" "Why does the daffodil bloom every April?" As the folk song says, the answer is blowin' in the wind, in the breath of God. It's spelled H-O-P-E.