View Post

Acquainted with Loneliness

In Life Reflections by Paula Stone Williams

While their parents were in Hawaii, Cathy and I spent ten days with our twin four-year-old granddaughters. Shortly before we returned them to their rightful owners, I was lying in bed listening to their rhythmic breathing. I thought, “Who will …

View Post

The Danger of Shouting Advice

In Social Justice by Paula Stone Williams

Well-known church leaders have responded to the Bruce Jenner interview. For the most part I have chosen not to respond to what other religious leaders write about trans issues. However, embedded within my identity are responsibilities, one of which is …

View Post

Bruce Jenner and Me

In Social Justice by Paula Stone Williams

Because I was on an airplane flying home to Colorado when the show aired, I did not get a chance to watch Diane Sawyer’s interview with Bruce Jenner until last night. I admire Jenner for his bravery and patience as …

View Post

Quite the Conundrum

In Life Reflections by Paula Stone Williams

We took our granddaughter to see Disney’s new live action film, Cinderella. Based on the positive reviews from venerable institutions like the New York Times and The New Yorker, I had high expectations. I was not disappointed. The film is …

View Post

Trusting the Flow

In Life Reflections by Paula Stone Williams

In my backyard I have a pleasant waterfall. Every day I hear the sound of water returning to itself as it falls and swirls over cold hard stones. The water is stuck in a Sisyphean cycle, falling downward only to …

View Post

Just Okay Chicken

In Life Reflections by Paula Stone Williams

Some people consider him the most famous resident Kentucky has ever known. My mother hails from Kentucky. She was the third child of a gentle tenant farmer and his good-natured wife. This particular man was neither gentle nor good-natured. In …

View Post

Moving On

In Life Reflections by Paula Stone Williams

The soul lives contented by listening If it wants to change into the beauty Of terrifying shapes it tries to speak That is why you will not sing Afraid as you are of who might join with you The voice …

View Post

Knowing One Place

In Life Reflections by Paula Stone Williams

There was a lean hiker who climbed New Hampshire’s Mt. Monadnock every day for seven years. One June, after an hour and a half scrambling up granite boulders, I saw him on the summit. It was my 4th or 5th …

View Post

I Thought I Made My Grandfather Die

In Family by Paula Stone Williams

When I was a child I had a pet rabbit named Lightning, one of a succession of rabbits. One was run over by a car. Dad didn’t tell me until I was twenty-three. He always said, “I dunno, he just …