Greg’s All Night Diner

From the diary of Katherine Craig.
Dear Diary,
Today began about 6:30 AM, when my ears were assaulted by the unmistakable racket of my Pa playing bagpipes on the front lawn.

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When You are Chosen as Poet Laureate

Do you suppose someday you’ll see your name
In the content pages of an Oxford book
An Oxford book of verse for this or that
Among the greats (who will want your autograph)

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The Grave Necessity of Superficial Things

Churchmen everywhere emptied out from their sermons such abhorrent things as doctrines and definitions, they got rid of “all that ritual nonsense” that the fast-moving modern couldn’t stomach – in short, they tried to bring back the common man by meeting him halfway. What they actually did was to confirm him in his skepticism by offering a second-rate relativism which neither satisfied his taste for fashion nor reignited in him an actual love for truth. Religion, it seemed, capitulated to the fads of the world.

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Changeling

“Another hell-hole opened up on my mail route!” the mailman said excitedly.
“Great. Another one” said Conrad with exasperation. We were all the time having to close them things.

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The Ministry of Clockery

Change for the sake of change – spare change? Spare change?
There must be a Ministry of Clockery
With Cratchit-y clerks drawing clocks at their desks
Supervised by a Scrooge of Clockery

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God, Water & Gratitude

“You go to Taco Bell, and if you don’t want a Coke, you want ‘just water.’ Just water? JUST water?! It’s the whole reason you’re alive, but it’s free, so you treat it like it’s nothing!”
My friend was on to something.

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Prayer Beads Booklet

We have put together various new and previously published stories and articles in order to give you a diverse look about different ways to pray with prayer beads.

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Don’t Push Me Away

The old man scoffed. Great. The Christians were knocking at his door again. Years and years they had been knocking and he would refuse but he could not shut the door on a kid.

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Citizen Potato Head is a Class Enemy

“Mr.” indeed! No, no, Citizen Potato Head!
Bourgeois titles are forbidden by law
As are toys lacking in social realism
Clearly you are no good Comrade of ours

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Homeschool, Screenschool, Noschool

Today’s first lesson is that no such construct as “homeschool” exists, either as a noun or as a verb. When your father taught you hunting safety he did not homeschool you; he taught you. If your sixth-grade teacher taught you not to spit tobacco into the classroom litter basket because your parents failed in their duty of teaching basic hygiene, manners, and dignity, he did not schoolhome you.

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Robin Goodfellow and the Ring of Doom

“You want me to get your magic ring from one of the most heavily guarded places in the universe?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do.”
The task was a daunting one. Annwyn was a place of powerful, wicked gods, and hideous monsters. It was a place of terror beyond all comprehension.

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Someday a New Arthur

Someday a new Merlin among the ruins
Will give a new Arthur a trove of hidden books:
Chaucer and Milton, Shakespeare, Coleridge, Keats
And maybe even long silent Malory…

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Ice Wednesday

Many crosses of ice but no ashes
Trees sagging from the icicles dragging
Little birds desperate for last summer’s seeds
The ice ground whitening, whitening, disappearing

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An Alphabetic Acrostic

Abba Father, what am I that thou wouldst knowledge me?
Behold, I am iniquitous and unclean!
Cleanse me and clean me within!

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Morgana and the Well of the Wyrd

“What if I told you that you could be one of the greatest magicians in the history of Britain?” queried the madman.
“I’d say you were mad,” said Morgana, chuckled.
“I’ve seen it. You will go down in legend.”

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Submissions Information Spring 2021: Acts of Charity- Spiritual Works of Mercy

The theme for the Spring 2021 issue is Spiritual Works of Mercy. These are: instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, admonish the sinner, bear wrongs patiently, forgive offenses, comfort the afflicted, and pray for the living and the dead. We want to know – what do these ideas mean to you personally? How do you see them in your church, in your life and in the lives of others?

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Winter 2021: Acts of Mercy: Corporal Works of Mercy

Join us as we explore the Corporal Works of Mercy. In these pages you will learn what the Seven Corporal Works of Mercy are, how having an open-door policy effects a family, what it’s like to be in need and overlooked, and what prison looks like from the inside. You will also find non-fiction, poetry, book and media recommendations, and puzzles, as well as our various views on war in Controversy Corner. We can’t wait to hear what you think!

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Kristin Hannah’s Winter Garden, Sort Of

James Lee mentioned that he really liked Kristin Hannah’s novels, which I pooh-poohed as chick-lit. He assured me that they are really good, and that with my love of Russian literature I would appreciate Winter Garden, parts of which are set in Leningrad…

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