Good morning... Her mom was a beloved teacher at the elementary school. Bright. Sunny. A breath of joy. She, I remember, was a vibrant young woman when her mother died, a loving daughter who was schooled daily by one of the best lovers of life ever to walk this earth. "To all the daughters who’ve lost their mothers," [...]
Good morning... Together we are learning about Ring Theory, concentric circles of support expanding out from each individual (see yesterday's blog post Our Words Matter). During this Covid-19 crisis, we recognize the importance of sending "comfort in" to the front line workers, those in danger, those grieving, and we work our own "grief out" with people in our [...]
Good morning... "I read this article and found it really helpful," she texted, "not just for how to handle people on the front lines of the Covid-19 crisis but for any one in danger or in grief. The final message at the end of the article reminded me of something lovely you would say. I don't know if [...]
Good morning... Settling in to do Saturday yard work, I discovered the sign above. It magically appeared in our yard overnight, delivered personally, planted by hand, with all good intentions. But, surprisingly, this kind gesture made me sad. Really sad. Like any strong feeling, I took time to process, "God, why does this symbol of academic achievement step [...]
Good morning... One week ago today, my husband and I sat on our back porch watching online the celebration of life service for a fifteen-and-a-half year old who died unexpectedly. Being ministry friends with his dad, our hearts broke for this faithful family and their many friends on that solemn Holy Saturday, before the resurrection power of Easter [...]
Good morning... I have been with people as they have taken their last breath. Sacred. Surreal. The eternal spirit leaves the still body. Life, lovely while it lasts, is soon over. Life as we know it, precious and beautiful, ends. The body is put back in the same ground it came from. The spirit returns to God, who [...]
Good morning... Grateful to turn fifty-seven today, I am experiencing my most extreme birthday ever. The word "extreme" is a multifaceted one. As an adjective, "extreme" means very far removed from the ordinary or an outermost point farthest from the norm. As a noun, "extreme" means the highest degree, like "cautious to an extreme," or two things as different from each [...]
Good morning... I have been pondering a portion of the Richard Rohr quote shared in our recent post Our Uphill Climb. "...do not waste a moment of time lamenting poor parenting, lost job, failed relationship, physical handicap, gender identity, economic poverty, or even the tragedy of any kind of abuse," wrote Rohr. In my heart of hearts, I [...]
Good morning... Last Friday night, November 1st, I attended my friend's Day of the Dead party, a sacred evening when we celebrate loved ones who have gone on to heaven. The photo above is the altar I built to honor two young men, two of my 24-year-old son's close high school buddies, who have died suddenly in the [...]
Good morning... Sometimes we meet soul-to-soul before we ever see one another face-to-face. This is the sacred situation occurring between me and a subscriber from Charlotte, North Carolina. Mary writes me periodically to fill me in on her painful process of grieving her son, Dalton, who died suddenly at age twenty-one. In previous posts on the topic of [...]
