Hasankeyf No More
Knowing that it would probably be the last time I would see the ancient city of Hasankeyf, I visited eastern Turkey in 2013. I had visited the site a few years earlier, but this time the local residents seemed more dejected, resigned to the ...
Christmas: A Time of Celebration and Loneliness
For most people, Christmas is the biggest holiday on the calendar. It is a time when the business of life stops, families gather together and we reflect upon what God has done for us. It is a time of joy and laughter. It is also a time of sorrow and ...
A Bridge Too Far?
Is there a bridge to span today’s politically, socially and religiously bifurcated America? If so, you won’t find it among today’s political parties. There seem to be no independent thinkers and the pressures to acquiesce to party decisions is stifl ...
We Still Grieve and Wonder Why
Some time ago good friends of ours lost their son through suicide. I am still shocked and think about it now and then. He was a handsome and intelligent young man who seemingly had everything to live for. Yet, he was walking through a dark tunnel fr ...
A Story . . . Long Time Forgotten
The inscription was illegible. I could make out a few letters, but the weather-beaten lintel was damaged beyond my ability to put any words together. Lying unprotected in the highlands of Rough Cilicia where the erosive effects of the wind, rain ...
The Uncle I Never Knew
My father Donald Gerald Fairchild grew up in Corry, a small town in northwest Pennsylvania. The family was poor, but my grandfather Arthur labored hard at a job with the railroads. At that time Corry was an important railroad junction in the area. L ...
Another Sweat Fest
Turkey and Europe are frying in record high temperatures. You have to think, is this climate change? The scientists say it is and we need to reduce carbon emissions. When I was hiking in the mountains of Turkey the temperatures reached as high as ...