Good morning... As women came through our wooden side gate on Wednesday afternoon, we lingered in the warm sunshine. With a gentle breeze tickling the wind chimes, we collected beneath our back porch. For the first time this season, we held class on our outdoor furniture amid the symphony of the birds. Continuing to journey through our book, [...]
Good morning... We began this semester studying one book, Wintering by Katharine May. To our surprise, we will end this semester studying a second book, Parker Palmer's new 25th anniversary edition of Let Your Life Speak. We did not plan this expansion into more, but the seamlessness of these oddly orange book covers, set side by side, offers [...]
Good morning... Yesterday morning, I was expecting the highly anticipated Blood Moon effect of a total lunar eclipse, so I woke when it was predicted to be at peak. Instead of seeing the full moon mysteriously turn red, I saw clouds. Grey. Dense. Blinding clouds. "What a disappointment!" said the body language of our [...]
Good morning... The bright light of tonight's full moon fills our home at 1:00 am. The Blood Moon of the total lunar eclipse, best seen in our area between 6:00 and 7:00 am this morning, will be more than 38 billion miles away (I think). I met an honest [...]
Good morning... "We travelled through dark moments together," writes Katherine May on page 120 of Wintering. "I won't pretend it was fun. But it was necessary all the same. We raged and grieved together. We were overcome with fear. We worried and slept it off, and didn't sleep, and let our timetables turn upside down. We didn't so [...]
Good morning... Flying home from Ohio in the early morning dark, I looked out the window and saw the intriguing image above. We were flying forward with black direction arrows pointing back. Somehow it felt like the world we are living in right now. Confusion. Conflicting messages. Flying forward while being directed backward. It reminds me of an [...]
Good morning... On Sunday in worship, the musicians sang a song I had never heard. I went home, and I researched the gift. Humble Jesus by Audrey Assad speaks the truth we all need to hear on this dark Ash Wednesday morn. ****** [Verse 1] Humble and human, willing to bend You are Fashioned of flesh and the [...]
Good morning... As powerful pastels streaked the morning sky, I received an important email last Monday. Cathy, a loving grandmother in our Wednesday class, sent me a video created for the Rally Foundation, a short video chronicling little Eliza's cancer journey. Eliza is Cathy's oldest granddaughter, and Cathy's son and daughter-in-law tell the touching story of receiving their [...]
Good morning... After reading yesterday's post, including words of wisdom from our spiritual mentor Betty Skinner, one friend texted me along with another friend. Know who and whose you are. Remember, "Gratitude is everything." Keep your mouth shut and your heart open. "These are my favorites!!!" she said. "Agreed!" replied our other friend. "I was thinking of the [...]
Good morning... Yesterday was Betty Skinner's sixth birthday in heaven. Betty was a Christian mystic and the heroine of my all-time favorite book, The Hidden Life Awakened by Kitty Crenshaw and Dr. Cathy Snapp. Incredibly drawn to her Jesus-like qualities, I took an annual pilgrimage to visit with Betty in Ponta Vedra, Florida for the last five years [...]
