Alyce McKenzie

One of my students, trained as an attorney, told me of an article she recently read in a journal for Alabama lawyers. It was written by a judge and dealt with the top ten things attorneys should never say to judges. The first is “With all due respect, your honor.” Because it is a prelude to disagreeing or objecting, not respect. The second is “I’m not prepared today because…..” I don’t know what the other 8 are. Two is enough.

They stride into Jerusalem like a person wandering bare footed into a snake pit, asking “Where’s the baby king?” Like someone strolling into a public park looking for the guy they’re going to buy a bike from on Craig’s list, stumbling into a drug deal.

One night this past week I had a very vivid dream. I was running- where I didn’t know, I just knew that I had to get there fast. I was running down a long stretch of road, and I was clutching a golden nugget in my hand. It slipped from my grasp as I ran.

Thirty years ago when my husband and I got married in York, Pennsylvania, I asked a friend from seminary to read Scripture. She and I had both just graduated from Duke Divinity School in Durham, N.C. I remember that she drove all the way from Texas to the wedding and read l Corinthians 13 like [...]

Walkabout
As a recovering workaholic I’m trying to schedule more spontaneous, leisure activities into my week.
I know irony. Scheduled spontaneity. Anyway, a friend and I had talked about walking a couple times a week now that the relentlessly oppressive summer heat in Texas has given way to October coolness. She, by her own admission, is [...]