Stepping stones
Editor’s Note: We at Topology are currently on our annual publishing break. In the meantime, enjoy this bonus essay on the July theme of…
Read Moregrief
A day more beautiful
Photo: Sorbie Farm, Salem, OH, Hanna Family Archives (circa 1958) It was a day, her uncle said, more beautiful than it had any right…
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Politics and the lies we tell about grief
When we do not take grief seriously—our own and another’s—but merely cover its wounds with a garish fairy tale of winking soldiers cheering from…
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Find the hope
On May 29, 2011, I was in conference with a guest at The Hermitage, a retreat center where I serve as Spiritual Director. It…
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Orange silk
A splash of brilliant orange between many layers. A green dress, moth-eaten, in which she had once danced with her uniformed father amidst the…
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Loon egg: Memory of a place
“You are not welcome at the house because you abandoned the people who lived there.” There were a bunch of other words, but these…
Read MoreFuneral for Jesus
Children gathered around the flowered bier and sang dirges. Burst, his mother cried to the silent God who called her to this. Hidden women…
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Tears come
The tears start at the back of the eye. I suppress all thoughts of death and blink several times. They retreat. I press my…
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A daughter’s perspective on the Kalamazoo cyclist tragedy
Certain tragedies are so unbelievable, immediately soaking up the nation’s consciousness like a thirsty sponge, that they become synonymous with a community’s name. Think:…
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Dresses of them
Last October a weekend away unraveled into seven days of limbo. I was thankful that the vintage black dress with gold buttons, which I…
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