In the blanks below write the two most significant statements in today’s reading assignment. Be prepared to discuss why the statements you chose were significant to you.“Satan’s sin against God in the primal glory was a fivefold expression of the two defiant words: ‘I will,’ and every unyielded life is perpetuating the crime of SatanContinue reading “from Rachel: Getting in Your Place (part two)”
Monthly Archives: March 2026
Someone Else’s Comfort Food
Dearest Rachel – For all the Japanese (and other Asian) restaurants we have scattered throughout the local area within a fairly reasonable drive, most of them tend to be of what the natives themselves would consider to be restaurant food. This sounds like a tautology, I realize, but here’s the thing; what we can findContinue reading “Someone Else’s Comfort Food”
Back on the Treadmill
Dearest Rachel – The title of this letter was originally meant to only be taken literally, but after the morning I’ve had thus far (and seeing that it’s already after noon, that’s saying something), it might just be a metaphor for something a little larger than that. If I didn’t know better as to whatContinue reading “Back on the Treadmill”
Our Own Main Character
Dearest Rachel – This isn’t the first time it’s been said here, and I can guarantee that it won’t be the last, but it’s dismaying to note how much of the content of this site, these letters, are in the first person. There is far too much in here of “I,” “me,” and “my,” andContinue reading “Our Own Main Character”
What Might Otherwise Be Junk
Dearest Rachel – Well, I’ve gone and done it; we’ve gotten ourselves a new car. Only has some four thousand miles on it, bought straight from the dealership, for the first time in my life. I might even have to do this again relatively soon, albeit this time for Daniel’s sake; I’d rather he notContinue reading “What Might Otherwise Be Junk”
Once I Get This Taken Care Of…
Dearest Rachel – I’d say something to the effect that life is a series of plans that “gang aft agley,” as Robert Burns’ fieldmouse discovered, to its dismay, except that that’s not really quite accurate. Yes, we make plans, and yes, they will sometimes go awry (as Burns’ phrase translates to), but really, the ‘goingContinue reading “Once I Get This Taken Care Of…”
First World Trials
Our trial is… which car to buyTemptation is… that extra dessertIn the land of orange juiceYou’re better off with the right kind of shirt “It’s Sick,” Daniel Amos, Vox Humana (1983) Dearest Rachel – I think the point of this verse had to do with the fact that we fret over such insignificant things whenContinue reading “First World Trials”
from Rachel: Getting in Your Place (part one)
In the blanks below write the two most significant statements in today’s reading assignment. Be prepared to discuss why the statements you chose were significant to you.“We must understand that to look to anything apart from God to make life work is to forsake God. – powerful “Yet everything around us demonstrates that ‘a riverContinue reading “from Rachel: Getting in Your Place (part one)”
Speak to Me About Eternity
Dearest Rachel – For the life of me, I can’t remember the thoughts you had about the concept of eternity, of the infinite. I’m pretty sure I can remember your roommate and maid of honor Elizabeth, speaking of how the thought would keep her up at night when she was a child, fearful about theContinue reading “Speak to Me About Eternity”
Three Times Too Late
Dearest Rachel – I’ll be honest; upon returning home from our trip, I was starting to think I was going to be able to transition seamlessly from Japan time to Central time. While Daniel nodded off in his recliner next to your side of the bed, I was more hungry than sleepy; enough so asContinue reading “Three Times Too Late”
Falling Apart
I busted a mirror and got seven years’ bad luck, but my lawyer thinks he can get me five. Steven Wright Dearest Rachel – Barely a day or so back from being overseas, and only having driven the car once or twice since returning, and this has to happen… I have no idea what happenedContinue reading “Falling Apart”
Things to Get Used to Again
Dearest Rachel – Home again, and having to get used to Central Daylight Time (yes, the clocks changed over while we were out of the country, which only means we have to turn our own internal clocks back fourteen hours rather than fifteen, as far as we’re concerned). Someone told me the other day that,Continue reading “Things to Get Used to Again”
Time to Kill
Dearest Rachel – Tuesday, and we’re up once again well before the city is, at five a.m. That gives us seven or eight hours to kill before our bus – the bell clerk recommended that we take the 12:40 departure, as opposed to the 11:40, which would leave us just over two hours before ourContinue reading “Time to Kill”
Shedding Light on Kabuki-cho
Dearest Rachel – The one time I was in Shinjuku before, I had but an hour to wander around before I felt compelled to retrace my steps back to the train station, lest I get stuck there without a way to get back to Yokohama, where the ship was docked for the night. As aContinue reading “Shedding Light on Kabuki-cho”
Scrambling to Shibuya
Dearest Rachel – Morning in Tokyo; not our last morning, but the beginning of our last full day here. We’ve no real idea how to get the most out of the day (which probably means we won’t manage to), but we’ll do our best. We have a framework of where we want to go, andContinue reading “Scrambling to Shibuya”
Otaku Hajj
Dearest Rachel – Now that we’re on our own to knock about the city, I can think of three major areas in Tokyo that Daniel and I ought to spend some time wandering around before we go home: Akihabara, Shibuya and Shinjuku. So when I started the day, I asked my chatbot for recommendations asContinue reading “Otaku Hajj”
from Rachel: Identifying Your Own Way (part five)
In the blanks below write the two most significant statements in today’s reading assignment. Be prepared to discuss why the statements you chose were significant to you.“You must lead in following the Father’s will of humbling yourself for others – advice to live by.“The contents of three ‘tea bags’ have to be changed before theContinue reading “from Rachel: Identifying Your Own Way (part five)”
Walking through Sunshine
Dearest Rachel – As I indicated in an earlier letter, now that the official part of our tour is over, we were going to take things at our own pace, and in our own directions. For all that Japan is so rich in history, we’ve decided not to bother dealing with that for now. IfContinue reading “Walking through Sunshine”
Not Something I’d Have Considered
Dearest Rachel – It’s funny; just as the official portion of our time on tour here draws to a close, the level of activity ramps up considerably. You’ve already gotten a couple of letters about Friday’s activities, but those only got you halfway through the day itself. It’s as if there was some final push,Continue reading “Not Something I’d Have Considered”
The Old Ball Game
Dearest Rachel – The flow through Tokyo Station is like a human ten-lane expressway, with everybody changing lanes at all times. It’s fascinating to contemplate, but when you’re down there, who has time for that? You’re rushing to and fro with all of the other lemmings, trying to make your train. Pausing in the middleContinue reading “The Old Ball Game”
Sayonara Nagano
Dearest Rachel – It seems kind of appropriate that our room here in Nagano is on the very end of the hall, without so much as another room on the opposite side. We’ve rather isolated ourselves from the rest of the group as it is, so it makes sense that we be positioned so asContinue reading “Sayonara Nagano”
On Familiar Ground
Dearest Rachel – This morning started off early, as they all do – although perhaps a little extra so today, thanks to yesterday’s nap, which at least had the virtue of allowing me to put together the details of Wednesday’s events. It took me the better part of two hours to get all that writtenContinue reading “On Familiar Ground”
Easing Ourselves In
Dearest Rachel – After spending the entire evening yesterday within the hotel and shopping complex connected to the Nagano train station, thinking that we might be confining ourselves more than we ought to, I was looking forward to having a reason to get out and actually make our way around the city. I say ‘I’Continue reading “Easing Ourselves In”
Second Second Home
Dearest Rachel – It doesn’t always apply, of course – there are times when it’s just needed as a place to sleep, and others when it’s a fancy treat (in more ways than one) that simply couldn’t be provided in real life – but as a general rule, a hotel room is meant to beContinue reading “Second Second Home”
Before We Head Out…
Dearest Rachel – After getting back to the hotel last night (for the second time around; Daniel actually fell asleep almost as soon as we made it back from Harajuku, but after an hour’s worth of editing and writing, I felt the need to wake him up so we could at least get some smallContinue reading “Before We Head Out…”
Our Separate Ways
Dearest Rachel – I didn’t get anywhere near the amount of sleep that I should have last night, honey. After cashing in a little after ten, I thought I’d gotten myself a decent night’s rest, only to wake up a little after midnight, needing to use the bathroom. I managed to drift off yet again…Continue reading “Our Separate Ways”
The Moment or the Memory
Dearest Rachel – Only a day into this tour (barely half that, in fact!), and I’m realizing that there’s another difference about this one as opposed to most of our previous travels that may make keeping you up to speed that much more difficult. While we’ve done plenty of trips where we’re running at aContinue reading “The Moment or the Memory”
from Rachel: Identifying Your Own Way (part four)
In the blanks below write the two most significant statements in today’s reading assignment. Be prepared to discuss why the statements you chose were significant to you.“If people did not remain strangers to themselves, they would not maintain all their lives in the same paralyzed state. But they give flattering names to their own naturalContinue reading “from Rachel: Identifying Your Own Way (part four)”
Letters to Rachel 