A few years ago we had a row of hydrangeas planted beside our driveway. The foliage was lush the first year, but no blooms. The following years the blooms were sporadic and hidden beneath the foliage – so not much beauty. The garden centre experts suggested shocking the roots, fertilizing, pruning at different times of the year – all of which I tried for the last few years to no avail.

I was given a lottery ticket for my birthday. Not knowing what to do with it, I left it on my desk for months. A friend was over and scanned it with her phone. I got to play again so went to a variety store to “play again” and was instructed to say “yes” when the machine asked, “do you want to play Encore”? It cost a buck more and I won nothing next time.

My friend David Stiller and I were recounting memories of a visit we made to El Salvador in 1992. A fragile peace agreement had recently been signed after a devastating civil war. Tracer bullets popped and flared on the horizon while we visited the barrios of San Salvador. We were graciously welcomed by clients of a Salvadoran micro-credit agency.

A drama of Shakespearian proportions is splashing over recent business pages.  An aging patriarch is engaged in legal battle with his daughter for control of a multi-billion-dollar corporation. Family fractures from this sort of battle are far too common.

Some years ago, I was in Lebanon with my friend Ron Nikkel, connecting with those who guided ministry to prisoners in that troubled country. We were led by a Bishop of the Maronite Church who was chaplain of the prison system.