STUMBLE

Despite plans to the
contrary, the average
person stumbles into
his or her death

as into any number
of similar mistakes.
Nor does there seem
to be another way

to get there short
of stumbling. The
grave is always
open. We have

only to forget
ourselves and fall in.

THAT SHADOW

The church I liked
best as a child
was the one my
father refused to

go to. I wanted
to not attend that
church as faithfully
as my father

had. My father
believed ardently
in the unlikelihood
of the unproven.

I recently learned how
to stand in that shadow.