When our five children were growing up, we had the same territorial disagreements, wars over possessions and pecking-order conflicts common to most families. Routinely, I would step in to untangle the outer layer of "who did what to whom" or "she said, he said" and remind them of their options.

As a parting shot I would add, "Either you solve ...Read more

More than a year ago, I had a unique opportunity to offer an invocation prayer at a statewide meeting.

That, in and of itself, was not particularly exceptional. What made this opportunity special was the occasion -- an annual meeting of members of conservation districts.

Not exactly a church convention or religious convocation; in fact, the ...Read more

BOGOTA, Colombia -- In tiny, peaceful Costa Rica, a country that lives on its reputation as a laid-back vacation spot, the political ascent of a conservative evangelical pastor has caught many by surprise.

On Sunday, Fabricio Alvarado Munoz -- who has said he'll challenge the rights of same-sex couples, consider withdrawing from the Inter-...Read more

I fantasize about a Norman Rockwell life. But I live in a Lucille Ball "I Love Lucy" world. There are times when I wish I could change the channel.

There is one Easter more than a few years ago that brings to mind an episode that I'd like to forget. Grandsons Luke and Joshua would probably want to wipe it from their memory banks too. They had ...Read more

Driving down Asotin grade on Washington State's Hwy 129, you will find a series of serpentine switchbacks, dropping steeply into the town of Asotin.

I'm remembering the time when my wife and I, with our young son, were driving home on that road in our Ford pickup. Ryan had just celebrated his third birthday.

Back in those days seatbelts weren'...Read more

The voice on the loudspeaker rose above the noise in the Greyhound bus terminal, alerting the weary passenger to a waiting call. In a matter of moments, that message would irretrievably change the young college student's life.

"His words were deafening and put me right to my knees," Jack Jennings, now 66, said as he remembered the Illinois ...Read more

Sissy Spacek, Carl Malden, Nashville, and Hollywood -- people and places in the world of creative arts. How could the little boy fingering the slide rule at his father's business ever envision this realm of musicians and actors as his true destiny?

Unknowing as a child, his future would hold unexpected doors to his real calling.

"I was about ...Read more

I am not a sailor. I have been on a sailboat a couple times, helping (I hope) crew on the Columbia River in Wallula Gap, Washington.

While that does not make me a sailor, I did learn at least one thing beyond watching the boom and not falling in.

I learned the essential function of "tacking," of shifting the boat's direction back and forth as ...Read more

King Solomon carefully studied the two women standing before him. His lingering silence thickened the air, already charged with emotion.

During the night, two mothers and two infants who had been sharing the same room experienced the unthinkable; one baby was accidentally smothered. Now both moms, with deep anguish and tears, stood before the ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Bad news for Connecticut Roman Catholics hoping to enjoy a steak dinner, wine or chocolate on Valentine's Day: There won't be a pass on the obligations that begin that day with the start of Lent.

This year Ash Wednesday, the holy day that marks the beginning of the penitential 40-day season of Lent, falls on Valentine's Day. ...Read more

Long before "girl power" was in vogue and Beyonce had added her voice to the mix, one young woman was already learning what it took to be strong.

"I was a tomboy farm girl, I guess," Tiffany Smiley said as she reminisced about growing up north of Pasco, Wash., miles from town, and often sporting bows and ribbons in her hair. "Those country girl...Read more

Love. The bond that laces hearts together.

Is it confined to time and space, the here and now? Or does it reach beyond the confines of human comprehension, limitless in its ability to touch another?

Love, like life, can be hard to explain.

"We had a connection from the start," 23-year-old Bailey Jasper of Moses Lake, Wash., said as she ...Read more

Recently while walking out in our shrub steppe desert, I noticed that at least one species of sage has been trying to bloom tiny yellow blossoms. That was even before the recent rainstorms.

You know how dry it has been all summer, so the tenacity of these remarkable plants is rather impressive. I'm no biologist, but am aware that the only way ...Read more

SEATTLE -- The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected a request by former Bremerton High School assistant coach Joseph Kennedy to reconsider its refusal to reinstate him to his job after he was fired for refusing to stop praying on the football field, and his attorneys vow they'll take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

A three-member panel...Read more

LIMA, Peru -- Pope Francis ended his trip to Chile and Peru on Sunday with a warning about the plight of the urban poor and what he termed the "globalization of indifference" toward their fate.

"They are found along our roadsides, living on the fringes of our cities, and lacking the conditions needed for a dignified existence," Francis said in ...Read more