Several years ago I was in Burlington, N.C., and needed a place to spend a couple of hours while my daughter was in a meeting at Elon University. Someone recommended a little coffee shop on the main street past the campus. There was, they told me, a comfortable place to sit and read my book. […]
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(Note to readers: I have changed the original title of this piece to emphasize the point of my article. You are encouraged to read it again and think with me about this and similar commonalities or needs that might help us to create peace between us and the Middle East.) A few days ago […]
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My last blog promised that on January 4 I would tell you about my plan for “carrying on” my effort to be a positive influence in this violent world. And here it is. This is an invitation to you, a regular or occasional reader of my blog. I want to encourage you to write […]
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2015 is gone! I am tempted to say, Praise God, al hamdulilla, good riddance. In 2015 my husband was sick, I was exhausted and stressed and trying to keep appointments, when I discovered I was not superwoman and got hauled off to the ER myself. A few months later, expecting to return home the next […]
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This blog has been written at my request by my friend, Keren Roper Willmon. Keren grow up in Jordan as the daughter of missionary doctor, John Roper. Recently she spent several weeks in Jordan, participating in ministries to Syrian refugees, some of the thousands who are living in Jordan outside of the UN camps. Some […]
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The last time I was in Damascus I bought an inexpensive piece of local art from the artist himself at his little shop in the covered suq (market). Afterwards, feeling very happy with my purchase, I strolled on up the narrow, sheltered street, enjoying the colorful store windows and being part of the noisy, […]
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Yesterday our topic was What Not to Do in Response to the Attacks on Paris and Beirut. Reading that blog first, will make this one more meaningful. As yesterday, my ideas are organized as a list. 1.Stop talking Sit down, take several deep breaths, drink a cup of coffee or tea, whatever makes you […]
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We are responding. All of us in some way are reacting to the shaking of our world. I happen to be a list-maker, especially when the world is shaking. This is how I get a measure of control over my own emotions and actions. I am not any smarter than you are. But in […]
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When we were mere teenagers, my sister Joyce and I were sitting in a theater watching a war movie. Several soldiers moved forward into a battle, while others stayed behind in a trench, listening and watching. There was an explosion, a lot of smoke. One of those in the trench observed sadly, “Somebody got it,” […]
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In the early 1970s, before the civil war, our little publishing office was in West Beirut, sort of between Musaitbeh and the Basta. In the corner of the building we had a small book store, a very quiet bookstore, because we had not been there long and the area had very little foot traffic. […]
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