Today I have too many friends who are dying. Sometimes at a memorial service I feel dissatisfied, and I’m the preacher in charge. I realize I can’t figure out how to preach my view of resurrection. I know that people would want to hear it, I’m not worried about offending or confusing anyone. I...

What a gathering—the purple tongues of iris licking out at spikes of lupine, the orange crepe skirts of poppies lifting over buttercup and daisy. Who can be grim in the face of such abundance? There is nothing to compare, no need for beauty to compete. The voluptuous rhododendron and the plain...

Once upon a time, a thief snuck into the room of a sleeping Buddhist monk. As the burglar rummaged about, the monk awoke. The startled thief ran into the snowy streets with the monk racing after him, "Please stop!" the monk called, and the man finally did, realizing that his pursuer was no threat.