2 days agoONE DAY LESSONE DAY LESS By John Thomas Tuft She lies awake and weeps. The house groans and creaks as it endures the birthing pangs of the long night, hoping for the sun crowning on the eastern horizon. If true prayers are sighs too deep for words, guttural moans that defy the…Spirituality4 min read
Jul 29KILLING THE KITTENSKILLING THE KITTENS By John Thomas Tuft He was just so tired. Every day felt like he was screaming underwater while friends and associates watched from the shore. It wasn’t one big thing but all the little ones that piled up, adding to the feeling of being slowly pushed under…Spirituality4 min read
Jul 23OUTSIDE INOUTSIDE IN BY John Thomas Tuft Jubilee Parker opened the door and stepped into forever. It looked and felt like a dream — the sheep on the hills, slowly munching their way across the pastures, the donkeys around the perimeter guarding against predators. The afternoon heat damped down most activity…Spirituality4 min read
Jul 16SUMMER OF ‘69SUMMER OF ‘69 BY John Thomas Tuft It can be difficult beyond words to leave the things of childhood behind. The summer of 1969 I was 15 years old and trying to hang on to the feelings of no responsibilities, no life decisions to be made, too soon into the…Spirituality5 min read
Jul 10I USED TO BEI USED TO BE By John Thomas Tuft It is one more leg on a long, long journey. After humping out of the mountains in a faraway country, taking a Humvee across the desert, helicoptered to the airbase and onto the transport to ship back across the ocean, he is…Spirituality5 min read
Jul 4MY DEATH DOULAMY DEATH DOULA BY John Thomas Tuft Most days it is okay, it all at least feels bearable. Until she passes a mirror. She doesn’t want to look, but she must. It is what people do with mirrors, stop and take a look. Her doctor had recently exclaimed, “The team…Spirituality4 min read
Jun 29THE HOUSE YOU LIVE INTHE HOUSE YOU LIVE IN By John Thomas Tuft Morty gets up at 4am six days a week. It’s not quite night and it’s not quite morning. It is the time for nightmares and the time for very strong coffee. The others stirring at this hour are bread makers and…Spirituality4 min read
Jun 17THIS GLORIOUS SADNESSTHIS GLORIOUS SADNESS By John Thomas Tuft She stands all of 4’9” tall, looking like she just stepped off the pages of a Dickens’ novel with her mop of brown curls, freckles on her cheeks, below eyes that have seen far too much of the world’s raw side. Her name…Spirituality5 min read
Jun 11THE CAMPFIRE STORYTHE CAMPFIRE STORY By John Thomas Tuft Miss Maybelle’s choir took an annual camping trip; a once-a-year journey into the Laurel Highlands for the two dozen 12- to 14-year-olds who endured the school year of daily rehearsals, constant bickering, awkwardly awakening adolescent amours, and the other essentials that come with…Spirituality5 min read
Jun 4JACKPOTJACKPOT By John Thomas Tuft It was a dark and stormy night. The rain came down in sheets, obscuring the view down the narrow alleyway. The solitary streetlamp cast a feeble glare that gave up less than a third of the way through the space. Garbage bins stacked along one…Spirituality4 min read
