“Persistence is an essential element in our lives. While the starting of a good thing is a good thing, it becomes pointless if we don’t finish.” –Harold “Doc” Arnett, Fruit of the Vine

Query: Do you continue to live and grow in Christ?

I have this collection of wooden

birds from Bolivia. Parrot,

toucan, woodpecker, hummingbird,

owl, goose, duck, flamingo and a flock

of small, nameless warblers

perch on convenient spaces

around my apartment. All native

to South America, they stir

memories and fill this indoor

air with silent song.

–Nancy Thomas, from “Why I Want to Own a Platypus” in Close to the Ground