This short piece was a doctoral assignment. It is a joint response to Tracy K. Smith’s Life on Mars and Brian Doyle’s “Joyas Voladoras.” As I enter the museum, I am immediately struck by how quiet it is. It’s a weekday, I remind myself, so I probably should have expected the low-key atmosphere. I take time toContinue reading “A Conversation Under the Arch”
Tag Archives: spirituality
The Prodigal’s Dog
I knew him while he was growing up. He was the one who threw my stick, rubbed my belly, ran with me in the fields. I slept at the foot of his bed and rose with him each morning. Then one day, he was gone. I sat at his father’s side and watched him leave,Continue reading “The Prodigal’s Dog”
I Stepped Away to Spend More Time with My Classwork
On the second to last class day of my doctoral intensive week at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in June, every student was given a blue Post-It note. The assignment was for us to list three things about ourselves without including our names, and then to stick them on a large writing pad set on an easel.Continue reading “I Stepped Away to Spend More Time with My Classwork”
Jeffrey A. Nelson 