He was in the first third grade class I taught at Saint Mary’s School in Morris, Minn. All 34 of my students were dear to me, but Mark Eklund was one in a million. Very neat in appearance, but had that happy-to-be-alive attitude that made even his occasional mischievousness delightful.
Mark talked incessantly. I had to [...]

I have issued forth a summons,
A call across the lands,
For all who would abide with Me
Must begin to wash their hands.
Bring forth the idols you admire
And heap them on a pile.
Search your heart from end to end
For this may take a while.
Bring forth the pleasures of your life,
The sins and folly too.
Toss them on that [...]

The Antarctic wind’s icy fingers stroked the egg beneath a warm underbelly. Fine fractures appeared, and soon became cracks in the mottled egg’s shell. After struggling for a while, the chick pushed her dark grey head through the membrane, blinked a couple of times and croaked, “Mama?”

The downy underbelly moved, and raised itself, allowing a [...]

I want to know, when day is done,
That life has been worth living,
That I have brought somebody joy
Through kind, unselfish giving.
I want to feel, when evening falls
and shadows quickly lengthen
That I have made somebody glad,
Some weakness I have strengthened.
I want to know that come what may
I’ve left some cheer and gladness;
I want to feel at [...]

A cactus stood all alone in the desert, wondering why it was stuck in the middle of nowhere.
“I do nothing but stand here all day,” it sighed. “What use am I? I’m the ugliest plant in the desert. My spines are thick and prickly, my leaves are rubbery and tough, my skin is thick and [...]