Good morning... "The spiritual life starts at the place where you can hear God’s voice," says the Henri Nouwen meditation from yesterday. "Where somehow you can claim that long before your father, your mother, your brother, your sister, your school, your church touched you, loved you, and wounded you—long before that, you were held safe in an eternal [...]
Good morning... "Because of my tech savvy ineptness, I couldn’t write about this picture of a pansy," she wrote me the day after our final Waking Up Whole Zoom class. "This pansy is from my garden," she explained in her follow up email. "I named it 'bloom where you don’t want to be planted.'" I like the persistent [...]
Good morning... Last Monday morning I woke feeling like a "failure." I had facilitated our final Friday morning class and was scheduled to teach our last Zoom class on Monday afternoon. I began the semester writing an interactive, online study with God, but, as we came to the final week, our Waking Up Whole: Mind, Body, and Soul [...]
Good morning... In the Christian calendar today is Palm Sunday. We remember Jesus riding on a donkey through the streets of Jerusalem. Many people carpeted the road in front of him with their cloaks and prayer shawls, while others gathered palm branches and spread them before him. Jesus rode in the center of the procession, with crowds going [...]
Good morning... Frustrated by no available parking spot, we sat stuck in a long line of cars trying to escape the crazy Costco crowd. "Look at this," I said to my husband. "Traffic has not been this bad since before the pandemic." With more and more people feeling freed by vaccination, I fear we are driving again toward [...]
Good morning... "Unless the Eternal builds the house, those who labor to raise it will have worked for nothing," over the phone my friend quoted Psalm 127:1-2 (VOICE). Her gentle voice continued: "Unless the Eternal stands watch over the city, those who guard it have wasted their time." "God provides for His own," she encouraged. "It is pointless [...]
Good morning... On One Special Saturday while volunteering for Julie's Dream, I met a fascinating person. In his morning and afternoon talks, Omar Howard challenged the at risk teens from PAWkids to think wisely about their daily decisions. Omar, the founder of Freedom is a Choice Inc., is a successful individual with an incarcerated history. He uses his [...]
Good morning... In yesterday's blog post I uncovered the word summing up for me this unusual semester of learning, "Unfinished." Unfinished is uncomfortable. Unfinished is unsettling. Unfinished is often unavoidable. I pressed "send" on our message then hopped in the car and drove to a friend's to walk and talk before our final class. Back and forth conversation. [...]
Good morning... Many of you know and love the ministry of my husband Steve, as he has been the head chaplain and wrestling coach at The Lovett School since 1995 (minus two life-changing years in a tiny Pennsylvania town). Steve and I met at a small liberal arts school called the College of Wooster in Ohio. His chaplain [...]
Good morning... This week I received a powerful poem from a forever friend who has taught me so much about grieving well and tenderly embracing every ounce of life. "A Center" by Ha Jin You must hold your quiet center, where you do what only you can do. If others call you a maniac or a fool, just [...]
