Category Archives: Personal

My Friend Lane Van Howd

In the summer of 1980, my father lost his role as a Seventh-Day Adventist minister and our family moved out of the church and to Auburn, CA, 45-minutes drive north of Sacramento, where dad set up his own non-denominational evangelical … Continue reading

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A New Direction

Greg Leake emails: Hi Luke, The other day in a post you made that could be associated with this one, called ‘When Did I Hit Bottom?‘, you had an inspired comment by Chaim Amalek. He suggested that your real problem … Continue reading

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First And Last Images

Assignment: Write about the first image that comes to mind in your story. And the next image. And the final image. It’s June 1980. I stand beside the American River. Its currents run deep past jagged rocks, and I fear … Continue reading

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How Far Away Is That Land?

He sat with his arms folded across his chest, his hands gripping his triceps. And then when he stood, he quickly returned to that same posture. To walk across the room, however, he had to unclench, and when he got … Continue reading

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Do I Need To Radically Change?

I had this great therapist. I respected him so much. After about 18 months of work together and after my blogging kept tripping me up and stopping me from getting along with my various communities, he said to me, “I … Continue reading

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