Good morning... Spending quality time with a friend who is seventy-eight years old, I read aloud to her this poem written by Becky Hemsley. "I have spent my whole life trying to please people," she responded. "It's exhausting and impossible. This poem gives me permission to just breathe and be me." Now as you read aloud this life-giving [...]
Good morning... On Monday during the wee hours of the morning, I posted a Scripture referring to "all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe." Then on Tuesday night when I woke to write, our website was weirdly "broken." Unable to craft a blog message, yesterday our written word community went without. Later in the day, with the [...]
Good morning... A friend's comment caused an important shift. "People do not die of cancer," she said. "People live with cancer." I suppose it is the same with Alzheimers, heart disease, and grief. With the moments we are given, might we ask, "God, how might I best live this day?" It was almost time for the Passover Feast. [...]
Good morning... Without our dogs, I would miss so much. Finger-to-fur time. Companionship on walks. Eyes that melt the tensions of life. Adorable sleeping snores. The loud lapping of water. The funny habit of flipping and chasing food. A loving ear to lean on, always. Whole-bodied happiness as anyone walks in the door. Without our dogs, I would [...]
Good morning... On my 61st birthday, I wake to an empty home, two dogs, and one spring birthday doll. My husband is away in Nicaragua, checking out a possible location for his upcoming new adventure as travel director for Lovett Expeditions. One daughter is in a wedding in Nashville, Tennessee; the other daughter is visiting with college friends [...]
Good morning... In the middle of the night, I pull out the "blob tree" tree that I crafted during our therapeutic community group at PAWkids this week. I know there is violence on the corner of a distant branch. I know there is loneliness and isolation and despair. But, feeling like the purple person on the perch, I [...]
Good morning... As she read to me over the phone this poem by Ranier Maria Rilke, I calmed into my body in a very settled way. "Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final. Don't let yourself lose me." Embodying this whisper, everything is [...]
Good morning... "God, thank You for allowing me to sleep through the night." This prayer fills me as I wake. Extended sleep is a rare occurrence for me, a listening nocturnal writer. "7:34," says my phone as I take my first peek. What a restorative luxury, this sleeping through the night. Now my prayers lift a protective covering [...]
Good morning... "A dear friend sent this to me," she texted yesterday. "Thought it was too lovely not to share with my other dear friend Sue!" With too many cooks in my mind's chaotic kitchen, I opened the blog post. Breathing. Focusing. Taking time. I fed on calming wisdom. ****** A New Prayer for Anxiety by Esther Liu, [...]
Good morning... Up in the middle of the night, I read the Post Hope blog message crafted by Elizabeth, the daughter-in-law of my longtime soul friend. Elizabeth has been invited to share her story at a gala for the American Cancer Society tonight. Prayers go out to her, her friends and her family as they attend this long [...]
