CowPi: Story Archives

Story Archives (53 entries)

Story Archives — An eclectic collection of stories.

Letter from Heaven

· 26 October 2006 | 832 words

She jumped up as soon as she saw the surgeon come out of the operating room. She said: "How is my little boy? Is he going to be all right? When can I see him?" The surgeon said, "I'm sorry....

A young man approached the pastor and said, "I think I want to be baptized." The pastor replied, "You think? Don't you know?" "I guess I'm ready," replied the young man. The pastor nodded and reached his hand out to...

Coincidence or Just Bad Timing?

· 27 September 2006 | 516 words

In class yesterday, I had told the students to get out a half-sheet of paper and clear off their desks for a quiz. Some students were moving slow in clearing off their desk, desparately trying to re-memorize this small table...

God Hides

· 6 September 2006 | 256 words

There is a story of how, at the beginning of time, God decided to hide in the created universe, and God summoned three angels to advise on a suitable hiding-place. The first angel suggested that God might hide in...

Wonders

· 9 August 2006 | 165 words

Received this in an email-- A group of students were asked to list what they thought were the present "Seven Wonders of the World." Though there were some disagreements, the following received the most votes: 1. Egypt's Great Pyramids 2....

The Old Telephone

· 9 August 2006 | 909 words

When I was quite young, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood. I remember the polished, old case fastened to the wall. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little...

The Parable of the Spoons

· 18 June 2006 | 300 words

A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, "Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like." The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the...

A Muddy Moment

· 30 March 2006 | 951 words

We were on our way home. We took the country road around the lake to avoid a dozen stop signs. Just five miles away from home, about eights minutes, with only two stop signs. Only another car or two on...

The Headlights

· 23 March 2006 | 903 words

The long desert road stretched endlessly to the horizon, following the contour of the gently, low rolling hills, merging into the infinite of nothingness. The evening sun was no longer hot enough to create heat waves that would shimmer over...

Good from Bad

· 31 December 2005 | 144 words

There is a little old Christian lady living next door to an atheist. Every morning the lady goes out onto her front porch and shouts, "Praise the Lord!" The atheist yells back, "There is no God." She does this every...

The Christmas Box

· 22 December 2005 | 374 words

I received this story from a good friend who had a choice to make. She said I had a choice to make also. I have chosen. Now it is your turn to choose. The story goes that some time ago,...

Overheard…

· 10 December 2005 | 38 words

Overheard in my high school's lunch line yesterday: He said: I don't know why you wear a bra...not like you have anything. She said: Well, you wear pants don't you? Poor lad, didn't stand a chance after that....

Cold enough to…

· 6 December 2005 | 244 words

Here is an interesting story about the origin of a semi-well known phrase: Every sailing ship had to have cannon for protection. Cannon of the times required round iron cannonballs. The gunner wanted to store the cannonballs such that they...

Third Option, Second Person

· 27 November 2005 | 101 words

A fable I once heard that seems appropriate to start Advent... The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit held a meeting in heaven to discuss the terrible situation down on earth. Things had gotten very bad. They discussed it...

School Mass on All Saints Day

· 1 November 2005 | 447 words

All of our all-school Masses are good, but this one was extra special on several accounts. First, it was grandparent's day at our school and there were about 65 sets of grandparents and students out of a school of 290....

Love Will Point to the Way Ahead

· 21 October 2005 | 998 words

Okay, I have had this huge debate going on in my heart. You see, I had this real serious problem at the end of last month. It was too big for me to handle. I knew I was in trouble,...

A Sense of…

· 15 October 2005 | 326 words

Last November, my dad came to spend Thanksgiving with us. I remember this sense of security come over me when he entered the door to my house. I felt it deep inside, and it reminded me of that sense of...

Life is Messy

· 15 October 2005 | 737 words

The following quote is part of a comment I left on another weblog today: The game of life is messy. You are going to get hurt sometimes, and at times, you cannot not hurt those you love. Are you going...

Not Yet

· 6 October 2005 | 387 words

Late Friday night. I stepped out into the darkness of the night into the first big drops of rain as they began to fall. Moments before, I had been sobbing in prayer inside my car, shaking my fist to Jesus...

Crucified Hero

· 25 September 2005 | 1055 words

Every moment and every event of every man's life on earth plants something in his soul. For just as the wind carries thousands of winged seeds, so each moment brings with it germs of spiritual vitality that come to...

I Have a Dream

· 23 September 2005 | 81 words

At the archdiocesan teacher inservice today, the speaker briefly recalled Martin Luther King, Jr.'s famous line from his speech many years ago, and connected it to our hopes and aspirations within our own schools. She then asked us to turn...

In the Palm of His Hand

· 16 September 2005 | 467 words

I had a dream last night that I met Jesus. I had so longed to look into His eyes. And finally, there I was, face to face with Him. I looked deep into His eyes. I smiled and I cried....

The Passenger

· 1 August 2005 | 789 words

I was driving an old beat up silver Ford van. My friend was sitting in the backseat wearing blue jeans, a white t-shirt and sandals. The middle row of seats had been pulled out long ago. We pulled up and...

Darn Glad to Know You!

· 19 June 2005 | 165 words

Something recently reminded of what I occasionally do with my students. I don't do it very often (maybe I should). I usually do this in the hallway during a passing period between classes. I will only pick out randomly one...

Reformatting Faith

· 9 March 2005 | 2526 words

The experience of losing your faith, or of having lost it, is an experience that in the long run belongs to faith; or at least it can belong to faith if faith is still valuable to you, and it...

The Missing Baby Jesus

· 26 December 2004 | 136 words

It was the day after Christmas. The pastor of the church was looking over the Nativity scene when he noticed that the baby Jesus was missing from the cradle among the figures. Immediately he turned and went outside and saw...

The “W” in Christmas

· 17 December 2004 | 511 words

I received this in an email this morning... Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience. I had cut back on nonessential obligations--extensive card writing, endless baking, decorating, and even overspending. Yet still, I found myself...

Footprints Too

· 19 November 2004 | 383 words

Most people are familiar with the story about the footprints in the sand. Here's a different set of footprints... Now imagine you and the Lord walking down the road together. For much of the way, the Lord's footprints go along...

More Weight Than They Can Bear

· 13 November 2004 | 170 words

In last night's episode of Joan of Arcadia called "Friday Night", her troubled friend Judith teaches Joan how to juggle. Near the end of the show after a very emotional scene, God asks Joan a metaphorical riddle: God: Did you...

Barbers Do Not Exists

· 4 November 2004 | 300 words

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects. When they eventually...

In Her Eyes

· 11 October 2004 | 426 words

I just got back from an awesome, four-day retreat with high school junior and senior girls. I was one of the co-directors of the retreat in conjunction with the other catholic high school in town. This is the first of...

Lets Talk About Sex

· 21 September 2004 | 645 words

Last week, my quote on the corner of the chalkboard in my classroom was: You have to unzip your heart before you unzip your pants. Written in parenthesis under the quote was, "In other words, why would you trust your...

The Chapel

· 10 September 2004 | 814 words

On Wednesday, we put the whole school, all 300 or so students, faculty, staff, even the cafeteria ladies, on buses and drove out of town for about an hour trip to Our Lady of Guadalupe Camp (OLOG) in eastern Oklahoma...

Where’s the Joy?

· 12 August 2004 | 141 words

The previous entry reminded me of a story. A priest visited a Trappist Monastery for a couple weeks as a retreat for rejuvenating his spirit. (I think the priest was Henri Nouwen.) The abbot confided in the priest that he...

They Call Me “Mister Woo”

· 9 August 2004 | 641 words

My students have a nickname for me. They call me "Mister Woo". You know that they like you if you have a nickname, at least one they can call you in front of your face. It all started three years...

What Would I Say?

· 6 August 2004 | 444 words

Inspired by Karen and Steve: What would I blog about if I could blog today? I'd write about how this pair of birds, little swallows or swifts, not sure which, built a nest over my front door; how they had...

The Butterfly

· 15 July 2004 | 259 words

One day as a small opening appeared on a cocoon, a man sat for several hours watching the butterfly struggle to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as...

One day, Satan and Jesus…

· 16 June 2004 | 202 words

One day, Satan and Jesus were having a conversation. Satan had just come from the Garden of Eden, and he was gloating and boasting. "Yes, sir, I just caught the world full of people down there. Set me a trap,...

The Cup

· 8 June 2004 | 495 words

A story about a little girl's daily faith in watering a cup of dirt and expectation of a miracle.

The Golden Thread of Time

· 5 May 2004 | 1376 words

Here we are living in time you and I. Yesterday is gone. We are waiting for tomorrow. And the present moment eludes us even as we try to grasp it. God lives in eternity, where there is no yesterday. There...

The Quote

· 27 April 2004 | 542 words

Only you can choose to be happy or sad. No one else can make that choice. Are you going to let someone else choose it for you?

Three Trees

· 12 April 2004 | 738 words

Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, "Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and...

The Shepherd and the Wild Sheep

· 3 March 2004 | 168 words

If a shepherd had a particular "wild" or "wondering" sheep, one that never stayed put with the flock, the shepherd would grab one of its hind legs in both hands, and...

The Interview with God

· 9 February 2004 | 345 words

I dreamed I had an interview with God. "So you would like to interview me?" God asked. "If you have the time," I said. God smiled. "My time is eternity. What questions do you have in mind for me?" "What...

The Dart Test

· 20 January 2004 | 380 words

One particular day, Sally walked into her religion class. She knew it was going to be a fun day because it was Mr. Smith's class. Mr. Smith was known for his elaborate object lessons. On the wall was a big...

Now You Have a Chance

· 8 January 2004 | 152 words

Fr. Scott was filling in for line duty during lunch the other day. Line duty is basically standing around outside the door to the cafeteria making sure that students do not crowd the hallway, block traffic, and prevent others from...

More on “The Room”

· 26 November 2003 | 218 words

Yesterday, I posted the story "The Room". Thanks again to Neely for the link to a short film adaptation of the story. At the end of the film, Joshua Harris, the author of the story, makes some very important comments:...

The Room

· 25 November 2003 | 1250 words

In that place between wakefulness and dreams, I found myself in the room. There were no distinguishing features except for the one wall covered with small index card files. They were like the ones in libraries that list titles by author or subject in alphabetical order. But these files, which stretched from floor to ceiling and seemingly endless in either direction, had very different headings. As I drew near the wall of files, the first to catch my attention was...

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