Helen Macdonald on sex, death and mushrooms
byI love Helen Macdonald’s writing, and I’m tempted to quote the last paragraph of her essay “Sex, Death and Mushrooms” right here, but instead,…
Backward steps
by the daily asteriskIt is said on the Statue of Liberty that America is a home of exiles. It doesn’t take us long to realize that America…
Edna Lewis: Place, culture, cuisine
by Kirstin Vander Giessen-ReitsmaIf someone borrowed one cup of sugar, they would return two. If someone fell ill, the neighbors would go in and milk the cows,…
What we owe
by the daily asteriskIn normal life we hardly realize how much more we receive than we give, and life cannot be rich without such gratitude. It is…
The United (Watershed) States of America
by Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsman 1879, geologist John Wesley Powell proposed that as western states were incorporated into the United States, their borders be determined by their watershed….
We take heart
by the daily asteriskAnd yet, and yet, the times are inexhaustibly good, solaced by the courage and hope of many. The truth rules, Christ is not forsaken….
Buying a post office; saving a farm
by Rob Vander Giessen-ReitsmaShannon Hayes, author of Radical Homemakers, writes in Yes! Magazine about her family’s experience trying to make the numbers work on her family farm, which unexpectedly…
Tribute to Caesar and Mars
by the daily asteriskWe ask our fellow Christians to consider in their hearts a question that has tortured us, night and day, since the war began: How…
War through the eyes of kids
by Kirstin Vander Giessen-ReitsmaThe virtual reality goggles that were included with this edition of the New York Times are still sitting on the end table, untested. After…
Unintimidated
by the daily asteriskIt occurs to me that the situation of the church in our society, perhaps the church everywhere always, is entrusted with a truth that…