Prisoner of Hopes

Category: Perspectives

  • Campground Host: Rural Road Trips Missouri

    Campground Host: Rural Road Trips Missouri

    This month, instead of a grand overseas adventure, we decided to see what it would be like to serve as a campground host in a Missouri State Park. I love to camp and I love the woods, but will I still be in love at the end of the month? My morning ritual is to…

  • And Still The River Rolls

    And Still The River Rolls

    But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! Amos 5:28 Today, I am standing on a bank of a river contemplating life. The river is peaceful and in the early morning light the only thing stirring is deer. It would be easy to forget every care . I am thankful…

  • Train Travel in America: Rural Road Trips Illinois

    Train Travel in America: Rural Road Trips Illinois

    All over the world, we travel on trains. Generally speaking, we find trains relaxing, efficient and easy to navigate. In fact, I am an advocate for expanding train services. They provide valuable public transport and reduce car and air traffic pollution. Safe, affordable, and environmentally friendly transportation should be a national priority in my book.…

  • I Don’t Want To Be Pretty

    I Don’t Want To Be Pretty

    I don’t want to be pretty, but of course I do. I don’t want to be just a winner of the genetic lottery, and ornamentally pleasing. I mean that must be nice, and I certainly don’t want people to think I am ugly. But I would rather be stylish and interesting. If you think that…

  • The Currency of Currency: Travel Goals Argentina

    The Currency of Currency: Travel Goals Argentina

    Currency: the quality of being generally accepted or in use. The U.S. dollar (and also the Euro), as we were to find out, is the ultimate currency, at least in South America. After arrival in any country, one of first stops we make is a bank or currency exchange. In recent years it has become…

  • Unexpected Encounters: Travel Goals Uruguay

    Unexpected Encounters: Travel Goals Uruguay

    When I was a teenager, I went to the science center IMAX. There, on the giant screen, I experienced scenes from the Andes and a plane crash that left people stranded for 72 days. Through footage of the wreckage, I imagined the horrors of trying to survive on the side of a mountain in temperatures…

  • Cruise culture: Travel Goals Argentina

    Cruise culture: Travel Goals Argentina

    We said we would never cruise, and yet I found myself on a Holland America ship for thirty five days in order to sail around South America. My hesitation for cruise travel had nothing to do with the ship, the sea, the time, or the money. I dreaded the people. I didn’t want to feel…

  • Excess: Travel Goals

    Excess: Travel Goals

    I just saw an article on women overpacking when they travel. The piece also suggested that packing deterred some people from traveling. I will admit that trying to decide what to pack for a trip is an exercise in self control. But I pride myself in being able to pack for a two week international…

  • Dreaming of a Spring Awakening: Travel Goals

    Dreaming of a Spring Awakening: Travel Goals

    This winter has been sluggish. I always struggle in the grey, dark days to find meaning and purpose. I get up and read. Slowly going through the motions of the day, I long to be outside and for sunshine. It is hard to be motivated when hibernation seems the best option. And so I dream.…

  • Relationships and the Common Good: Educating For Sanity

    Relationships and the Common Good: Educating For Sanity

    To be human is to be in relationship. All that we are, all that we think, all that we do has been shaped by our interactions with other people. Neuroscience confirms that the pathways in our brain are wired by interactions with others. Happiness is linked to personal interactions that produce endorphins. It is no…