Mar 22CRUCIFY MEBY John Thomas Tuft Sherman could not sit still. He was nervous about even coming through the door into my counseling center office. His eyes never stopped darting around the room, his hands kept playing with the pack of cigarettes, and his feet bounced up and down. Finally, he asked…Love4 min readLove4 min read
Mar 17THE CHERRY TREEBy John Thomas Tuft It stood as a sentinel at the far end of the large garden. It was planted by Susie and Jimmy when they first bought the lot. The day their Sears & Roebuck house kit was delivered, a pile of lumber, nails, hopes and dreams, sliding off…Love5 min readLove5 min read
Mar 11AND ANOTHER THINGAND ANOTHER THING By John Thomas Tuft In March, when the clouds descend and hide the mountains and impose a gray-white lid in place of sky, leaving early blossoms on the trees feeling a bit naked and afraid, sending jonquils and daffodils bending low near the earth in the chilly…4 min read4 min read
Mar 6THE DRUNK AND BROKENHEARTEDFOR THE DRUNK AND BROKENHEARTED BY John Thomas Tuft “Daddy, I don’t like sleeping down here anymore.” Tears form in the corners of her eyes and trickle gently over soft cheeks. “I really try, Daddy. I pray to God to make me not afraid. I squeeze my eyes shut real…Love4 min readLove4 min read
Feb 27JESUS WOODSTOCKJESUS WOODSTOCK BY John Thomas Tuft Jesus Woodstock was a farrier’s assistant, son of a man who was a traveling knife sharpener, or cutlery, for 67 years. Joey Woodstock, dad of Jesus, was known for the paper lunch bag he wore on his head for a cap, with the edges…Love4 min readLove4 min read
Feb 22THE KITTEN AMENDMENTTHE KITTEN AMENDMENT By John Thomas Tuft North Storer Avenue in Fayetteville, Arkansas, is a nondescript street on the edge of the University of Arkansas, home to the Razorback Hogs, some 20,000 students from all over the illustrious state gathered in the tenacious pursuit of knowledge…or something like that. At…Love4 min readLove4 min read
Feb 17WILL YOU MISS ME?WILL YOU MISS ME? By John Thomas Tuft Grandma Vernie was a force to be reckoned with. Born in a holler outside of Hurricane, West Virginia, she grew up dirt poor. In 1923, at the age of 15, she gave birth to my mother and neither of them had much…Love5 min readLove5 min read
Feb 14I WILL BE THE WINDI WILL BE THE WIND By John Thomas Tuft Aimee the Prophet drove around in a big Crown Victoria, an old police cruiser that still had the searchlight mounted outside the driver’s window and the nudge bars on the front bumper. She was particularly fond of a McDonald’s breakfast sandwich…Love4 min readLove4 min read
Feb 8THE LAST OUTTHE LAST OUT By John Thomas Tuft The summer after my first year of seminary I was hired to be the chaplain of a state park camping ground. The first year of seminary is like any first year of graduate level training and education: a testing time, a weeding out…Love4 min readLove4 min read
Feb 3MILEPOST 62MILEPOST 62 By John Thomas Tuft It is just a road. Appears over there and goes beyond over in the other direction. Each mile is marked by a milepost. This is the story of milepost 62. It was driven into the ground some eighty-eight years ago, and still it stands…Love5 min readLove5 min read
