by: Carol McClain @CAROL_MCCLAIN We, like the insect world of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, have fixed ideas. Whether they help us or not, we learned certain things, believe them and follow them blindly. It makes us not much better than bugs. Here’re some of the crazy things insects do: The FIXED notions of Chapter 4: “The Fixed.” …[ read more ]

by: Carol McClain @CAROL_MCCLAIN Friends and I hike the Smokies looking for Jack-in-the-Pulpits. Little Annie Margaret is the master. Me? Not so much. Finding them is a matter of seeing. Obvious? Not really. You have to look. You have to be present and be willing to see. Are you near a stream–not on it or adjacent …[ read more ]

by: Carol McClain @CAROL_MCCLAIN Let’s face it. With Covid-19, our world has grown small. We’re tempted to despair as family members fall prey to the virus, and friends need to be socially distant. Our lives are, according to Annie Dillard (and I have many a student who will groan as they hear me return to my …[ read more ]

by: Carol McClain @CAROL_MCCLAIN What makes you happy? Lately, people have been socially isolating. In doing so, I think we are discovering the things we value most. Historically, we’ve been a blessed generation. Good finances. Nice homes. Equality. Freedom. Good medical. Freedom to worship… It’s not always been so, and we definitely haven’t arrived at nirvana. …[ read more ]

By Carol McClain “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask” James 4: 1-2. …[ read more ]