Good morning... "Friendship is one of the greatest gifts a human being can receive," observes Henri Nouwen's morning meditation from 1.7.18. "It is a bond beyond common goals, common interests, or common histories. It is a bond stronger than sexual union can create, deeper than a shared fate can solidify, and even more intimate than the bonds of marriage [...]
Good morning... Waking to frigid temperatures, she playfully texted me after yesterday's post, "Heaven may be better than Hawaii, but I wouldn't mind going to Hawaii now..." (three smiley, sunglassed emoji faces). "Agreed. Do you know Messiah and his family?" I asked because my friend has close ties to our cancer community. "No, I don't," she answered. "I was [...]
Good morning... Walking with my friend, we were stunned to see a dying cardinal lying on the sidewalk. The little creature was slowly moving his bright red head, looking around, blinking his eyes, but his chubby body was stationary, paralyzed on the pavement. When I said, "Oh, let's pick him up and put him in a soft, private place," I [...]
Good morning... I received a surprise email from one of the directors from my two year spiritual direction training program. From Cleveland, Ohio she wrote: "Hoping the event goes well for Same Kind of Different as Me. I am asking God to bless your effort to reach out to others about with the message of this story. I am [...]
Good Morning... “God designed a world where we all live ‘within’ our selves; that is, we inhabit our own souls, and we are responsible for the things that make up ‘us,’” say the authors of our Boundaries book on page 32. “The heart knows its own bitterness and no one shares its joy (Proverbs 14:10). We have to deal [...]
Good Morning... As I told you, we were down to our last toilet paper roll, doling it out sparingly to make it to the morning shop. After fighting "back to school" traffic to walk with my friend, I shared my drive to recalculate the toilet paper needed to cover the weekly women's groups starting a new fall semester in [...]
Good morning... Last night we shared cocktails with a changed man. Humbled. Engaging. Down-to-earth. He told one God-story after another, effortlessly, honestly. My favorite story includes a couple conniving Christians and a hand-me-down book in the hands of a stranger, a wife and a husband on a brand new Harley and being at the end of our human rope [...]
Good morning... "Through you I am getting the message to come to God often," wrote one subscriber. I smile as I sense God chuckle, "I have come to you. I am already here!" It reminds me of a quote I read aloud in our Bible study this week. "The difference between the mechanical and relational approach (to prayer) could [...]
Good morning... A few weeks back, I woke to a painful text. "So sorry to have been so out of pocket. So very much going on. However, tonight I am sitting here with sweet Tess. Just have not been able to talk about it since hearing last week. She if full of cancer. I saw a friend who is [...]
Good morning... "He looked up from his coffee, fixing me with one eye, the other squinted like Clint Eastwood. "There's somethin I heard 'bout white folks that bothers me, and it has to do with fishin." He was serious and I didn't dare laugh, but I did try to lighten the mood a bit. "I don't know if I'll [...]
