The day after the flood, Jared, our mitigation specialist, arrived. He pulled up in a truck with the word “RESTORATION” clearly spelled out on the

I’d just sit there tense, angry, a little afraid, like a stone,” she later confided. I couldn’t participate.

I asked the elders to take turns leading our time together in devotions. Some jumped at the chance while others did so under duress. And

I’m suggesting that, “whatever this middle-assembly-thing is, we’re like ‘Swiss cantons’ unified and living together.”

I walked up front as directed and was presented with the small Star Quilt by the birthday lady herself, who wore a radiant smile.

I remember almost nothing of the service except those candles and the musical recordings that were played.

Would I have been impatient, fearing that if things took too long people would lose interest, or the experience would lose its meaning? I’ve certainly

Calvin went so far as to characterize the work done by civic officials as a “sacred and noble calling.”