95 Piccadilly

By Shane Gilreath I’ve come to see aging and the passage of time as one of life’s periods of grief.  That does not equate to a perpetual state of unhappiness, but a simple notion that one is in a perpetual state of changing; saying goodbye to periods of life, people, events, landmarks that make us,…

By Shane Gilreath Today, in Copenhagen, the longest reigning monarch in Europe, Margrethe II, abdicated her throne in favor of her eldest son, and, thus, the clock struck on a moment in history.  I, too, am stricken by such moments. In my days of yore, one of my most memorable tourism encounters was a Dutch…

By Shane Gilreath Pride goeth before the fall.  The last few years have been humbling ones, as I find myself struggling through difficulties that I never thought I’d face; struggling through, like much of the nation.  The last year, particularly – perhaps, a cumulative one – has, at times, been one to bring me to…

By Shane Gilreath Merry Christmas! Though it’s an almost forgotten piece of our culture, today very much is still Christmas, the tenth of the twelve days of the Christian season, ending with the start of Epiphany, and commemorating the birth of Christ. As Christmas 2023 came upon me so suddenly, I find myself grateful for…

By Shane Gilreath We’ve eased into December as quietly as falling snow.  Though only Advent, that we’re approaching Christmas seems infeasible.  Every year, as the holidays sneak up on us, I think of two things: because of my joy for attending Christmas services, my time serving – nervously and obsessively – as an Acolyte at…

By Shane Gilreath Our world can seem far removed from the dark, damp days of fighting that engulfed the First World War.  We can look back over time and see our lives as very different, only connected to the past by the stories left by our grandfathers and the great writings of such iconic literary…

By Shane Gilreath My family and I have spent a lot of time at our church this week, making preparations for the Advent Season and the coming of Christmas.  Because of Christ the King Anglican’s association to the Church of England, we themed it “An English Christmas,” and while, as is typical, plans didn’t go…

By Shane Gilreath With Christmas around the corner, I, for one, have felt the stress of the yuletide creeping toward us. The truth is, like so many of you, I have a love-hate relationship with the holiday. On the one hand, I emphatically love the meaning of Christmas, the hustle and bustle excites me, the…

By Shane Gilreath During the height of the COVID pandemic, I set out on a road trip across Pennsylvania to visit Gettysburg National Military Park, site of one of the most important and well-known battles in American history. Gettysburg is a town lost to time, completely engulfed by its own history.  The events of 160…

By Shane Gilreath At my house, we’re fortunate to be surrounded by old photos and portraits, from both sides of the family, that remind us of our own pasts and those of our ancestors.  When I was growing up, I used to be enthralled by the stories shared by my maternal grandfather about his time…