Good morning... In Waking Up to This Day, Paula D'Arcy shares transformative truth: "Catherine of Siena writes, 'My deepest me is God.'" (16) "When we see something as it is, the breaking of the shell begins," Paula explains. "My friend Flynn reflects, 'Even to look at an iris and think, "Such a beautiful flower," is already expressing an [...]
Good morning... This image of a homeless person resting on a bench lives in the foyer of the Ignatius House Retreat Center. The humble figure draws my attention every time I enter the sacred space. Arriving on the gorgeous grounds yesterday around 5:30 pm, I found that the doors were locked to the library where I usually place [...]
Good morning... Eugene Peterson spent zillions of hours translating the entire Bible into a relatable language for us common people. The Message translation is an inviting gift to our world, a gift birthed by Peterson's long obedience in the same direction. Leif Peterson eulogizing his late father, Eugene, at the First Presbyterian Church in Kalispell, Montana on November [...]
Good morning... The morning after snapping happy photos of our grandson Charlie last week, I looked down on our driveway and saw this gut-wrenching sight. A red frog had been caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, innocently squished by the tire of my husband's car. By no fault of it's own, the poor fella was [...]
Good morning... Loss. Surgery. Rehab. Divorce. Caretaking. Health challenges. Alzheimers. Addiction. Heartbreak. Many of us are facing many hard things. "I am claiming these words these next days," one friend wrote to our Sunday afternoon class. "If you are betwixt, if you are between, if you are in the midst and the middle and the muck, if you [...]
Good morning... With all the heartbreak happening in our world right now, I am reminded of the famous Hasidic teaching, a teaching often attributed to the Kotzker Rebbe or Rabbi Menachem Mendel. The ancient story goes like this. A disciple asks the rebbe: ‘Why does Torah tell us to “place these words upon your hearts”? Why does it [...]
Good morning... "I love this," a friend sent me the following devotional. "You have shown me this art, to look for God in ordinary moments. I thought you might enjoy it." I think you might enjoy it too. ****** The Lie That Life Must Always Be Exciting by Patrick Omukhango We live in a world that treats excitement [...]
Good morning... One thing that has lifted my spirits this year is the act of spring cleaning. My friend Elizabeth has begun a small decluttering business, and she used me as her guinea pig. Here is what she wrote up about our hands-on experience. ****** Most of us slowly grow blind to our clutter. We walk around it—or [...]
Good morning... Ironically this same tongue can be both an instrument of blessing to our Lord and Father and a weapon that hurls curses upon others who are created in God’s own image (James 3:9, VOICE). Today, will our tongue be an instrument of God's peace or a weapon of the warring world? Hatred exists. Heap hate or [...]
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 [...]
