Blog
Grief
Loss sometimes consumes us. I am having to navigate my life without my mother. She believed in me. To lose the support of my mother is almost the sensation of having the wind knocked out of me. Yet she is still very much a part of me. Everywhere I go, I am aware she...
Christmas Characters
This holy season let us take a fresh look at some of the characters of the Christmas story. Shepherds. I lived on a small farm, or perhaps small ranch. We had animals. It was not our only source of income. I can imagine what life must have been like for first century...
Life’s Last Lesson
A few years ago I visited a man who was dying. He had a disease that left him almost immobile. I would say he “suffered” from this disease but he had such an amazing attitude he didn’t consider it suffering. I noted that, pondered it out loud with him and he said,...
Ponderings
Getting older is not what it is cracked up to be!!! For Bob and me it is not sailing the seas, flying to exotic places to vacation and pass the time as we slow down, nor is it lounging in a chair. For us it has become flitting from place to place to visit family. ...
Aging and Caregiving
“Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death...
The Joy of Reading is The Divine Plop
Anne Lamott talked about reading as a child: “We found in books the divine plop, the joy of settling down deeply into something, worlds and realities greater than our own troubled minds.” I like that ‘divine plop’. The new electronic book section of Barnes & Noble is cozily called the ‘Nook.’ Many of us like to plop down with a good book. It takes us out of ourselves and helps us see the world through others’ eyes. It can even deeply connect us to God.