This morning essay uses the demure little chipping sparrow to explore the idea of honoring individuality while finding one’s place as part of a collective whole. Something we seem to struggle with a bit in our country right now.
Author Archives: timothygoodwin
Stop Trying to “Help the Environment”
I often hear other people say they are “helping the environment.” Whenever I hear this phrase I’m a little disheartened. I concede the intentions are good. Everyone wants to “help the environment,” even those that are at the same time actively causing damage, which is almost all of us. My struggle with this phrase isContinue reading “Stop Trying to “Help the Environment””
Within These Woods: White-Breasted Nuthatch
Here’s a little essay about a little bird.
Within These Woods: Beaver
The original master carpenterRaw materials of sticks and mudWoven dams and all-season lodgesShe swims silently to and fro accumulatingA cache of tree tops for winter’s approachIgnoring my observing eyesUntil I come just a little too closeThen…THWACK!Her mighty tail crashes down on the water’s surfaceAnd she is gone and all around are warned
Within These Woods: Bald Eagle
This week’s essay is about the bald eagle. In it I tell the story of my first close encounter with the cabin eagles and the manne rin which it humbled and amazed me. Many non-native people have often said of the eagle, “If I had a spirit animal…” If you’ve said that about the eagleContinue reading “Within These Woods: Bald Eagle”
On This Good Friday
Good Friday and Easter Sunday is a time of renewal and rebirth for Christians—a time for spring (at least in the Northern hemisphere). Seeing as Christianity arose in cultures in the Northern hemisphere that makes sense. I struggle with the idea of intercessory prayer, virgin birth and a literal resurrection—though I’m active in the MethodistContinue reading “On This Good Friday”
Within These Woods: Ruby-Throated Hummingbird
This week’s essay is about the ruby-throated hummingbird. This tiny little mammalian bitterfly of a bird is surprisingly territorial and aggressive and capably of traversing the Gulf of Mexico during migration.
Bearing False Witness
I’d like to write about the Ten Commandments. Specifically, I’d like to write about number nine: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Those that know me, you can have a moment to recover yourself. I mean really, what’s my expertise here? Well not much. However, according to Rachel McIver-Morey from the NorthfieldContinue reading “Bearing False Witness”
Within These Woods: Club Moss
This week’s essay is about club moss.. The Lycopsids are living dinosaurs of plants, so naturally there’s much to be learned from such an ancient organism.
June 24, 1964
Why write and share a song about such a dark day? Well, there are some stories that deserve remembrance and telling. And, just knowing about an event and connecting and understanding it on an emotional level are two very different things. This song was sort of dropped in my lap, so I had to seeContinue reading “June 24, 1964”
