She seems courageous to me, my nephew’s daughter, answering nearly every challenge her private instructor offers. Just months ago, she was afraid to get wet; now she is willing to jump in the deep end but only if her instructor holds her hand. Soon she will be jumping in all by herself. Isn’t that what […]

As a child he found, next to a sheltered stream, a fallen sycamore. Because some of its roots held fast, the tree continued to reach for light. Four of its branches became large trunks, four trees rising from the one horizontal trunk. New roots went down and its life continued fourfold. Later, as a lost […]

Look, listen, touch anything anywhere at any time — suddenly we are in contact with an extraordinary universe beyond our comprehension. That extravagant domain contains more than billions of galaxies. It also includes symbols, numbers, words, ideas, and dreams, all just as real as quantum particles and trips to the dentist. Our universe also includes […]

It is good to fill every hour but better to recognize that God may have other plans, better to leave room for the unexpected. I do not know why the Almighty does not bother to inform us ahead of time, but we are usually caught flat-footed. We have phones for text and voice. Are the […]

In my world, it seems like the universe smiles when I am bold, has a good laugh when I fall on my face, then has its heart go out to me when I get back up again. Is my world anything like yours? Lately I have been thinking of George Plimpton. He was known to […]

This day could be any day many millions of years past, hopefully many millions of years to come. Wild turkey, redwing blackbird, goldfinch, fiddler crab, starling, grackle, willet, canada goose, herring gull, great blue heron, great egret, mama fox and her kit, yellow jacket, annoying fly, biting mosquito and tick, trumpeter swan, tree swallow, turkey […]

Words like petals fall from a poet’s pencil. Walk a pink path. Photo of a cherry tree and the petal-covered path below it in the Village of Arden, Delaware. Photo Prayer 2026-10; photo and text copyright 2026 by Danny Nelson Schweers. The blooming cherry tree in front of my home makes me think of Japan […]

My friend’s oblivion was as stunning an example of blind faith as I ever experienced. At the time, I was asking everyone I knew about the truth of Christianity. My friend said, “Let’s go to my neighborhood Irish pub.” We walked from his house and into an XXX-rated topless bar. I saw the neon lights […]

Good sense tells us avoid the highs,count the cost and be wise.Reluctance, a good sign, says donot go unless you really have to,but inspiration says yes, we must.Inspiration says yes, just trust.There in the roots of the mountain,even there, in trouble again,in a place of water and stone,we feel our way in the dark,clinging to […]

The birds get fed every Sunday. Three hours is all we can give them in the church auditorium. Some want to stay all day but Paul and I chase them away. As one of the homeless walks toward the church, Paul stops him verbally. “Mister! Hey! Mister!” Reluctantly the man turns around, not because he […]