Good morning... My dear friend emailed after yesterday's post, Hearing Me Let Go. "In the spirit of 'letting go,'” she wrote, "I share this precious story that my dad shared with me. He’s nearly 85, and his buddy from when he was a kid sends him all kinds of things that he finds online. Thinking of this story being [...]
Good morning... At our final Friday gathering of the semester, we shared the memorable words, quotes, and insights we loved best from Parker Palmer's Let Your Life Speak. In the course of our life-giving conversation, one of the women told us of an acronym her minister had recently shared. "Some asked me to repeat," she emailed later, "so here it [...]
Good morning... Yesterday in Sunday School, we unpacked the middle portion of the Apostles Creed. Considering the various valley times in our lives, we processed the three portions of our life-changing "check mark" experiences. Descending into hell. Waiting in the tomb for three grueling days. Ascending high into heaven in oneness with God. Each time tragedy strikes, this three-step [...]
Good morning... “Genuine transformational knowing of self always involves encountering and embracing previously un-welcomed parts of self,” says depth psychologist and beloved author David Benner. “While we tend to think of ourselves as a single, unified self, which we call “I” is really a family of many part-selves. That in it self is not a particular problem. The problem [...]
Good morning... "Unlimited Possibilities" is the phrase that filled my mind as I woke yesterday. Where was "Unlimited Possibilities" hiding? Might I have written those two words in my Awake To Wellness notes? I comb through the scribblings in my retreat journal, and, sure enough, I find "Unlimited Possibilities." What was Dr. Cathy Snapp teaching us when I jotted [...]
Good morning... "Contemplation is taking a long, loving look at something," softly said pianist Dana Cunningham during yesterday's Awake To Wellness Women's Retreat. This morning, I take a long, loving look at two stick figure people juxtaposed on my page of notes, a drawing etched as author Dr. Cathy Snapp joyfully taught. The skeleton stick figure on the left [...]
Good morning... "Nothing on our spiritual journey is ever final," says Betty Skinner on page 83 of my old, tattered copy of The Hidden Life. "It is a continuous change and movement from what is good (the place where most of us live, desiring to love and serve God) to what is better (an open and intense desire to [...]
Good morning... Last week, I held my head like a 9-month-pregnant belly. My spiritual director said, "I have never seen you do that before, holding you head with both hands like you are trying to keep it from exploding." It's true. I felt like my brain could burst at any time with all the doubling daily details. This spring, [...]
Good morning... Resolutions. Some make them. Few keep them. Why, by now, have many good intentions waned? Because the focus of most resolutions is on our own external efforts. We promise to do more or less. We strive to look better, feel better, act better. At the beginning of each year, many of us commit again to perfecting our [...]
Good morning... After yesterday's post, I pondered all day, "What is my 'one thing'?" What is the 'one thing' I cling to that shrinks heavens treasures while I walk this earth? My fear of pain. My love of comfort. My desire to get what I want when I want it. "LORD, is there really only 'one thing' I lack?" [...]
