Backed Into A Brick Corner
Good morning... "Because of my tech savvy ineptness, I couldn’t write about this picture of a pansy," she wrote me the day after our final Waking Up Whole Zoom class. "This pansy is from my garden," she explained in her follow up email. "I named it 'bloom where you don’t want to be planted.'" I like the persistent pansy photo, I love the descriptive name, and I hate the experience of being planted [...]
I Felt Like A Failure
Good morning... Last Monday morning I woke feeling like a "failure." I had facilitated our final Friday morning class and was scheduled to teach our last Zoom class on Monday afternoon. I began the semester writing an interactive, online study with God, but, as we came to the final week, our Waking Up Whole: Mind, Body, and Soul study sat embarrassingly "unfinished," weeks seven and eight remained only partially complete. In front of [...]
Gain Your Very Self
Good morning... In the Christian calendar today is Palm Sunday. We remember Jesus riding on a donkey through the streets of Jerusalem. Many people carpeted the road in front of him with their cloaks and prayer shawls, while others gathered palm branches and spread them before him. Jesus rode in the center of the procession, with crowds going before him and behind him. They all shouted in celebration, “Bring the victory! We welcome [...]
Go In And Close The Door
Good morning... As we head into Holy Week (tomorrow is Palm Sunday), I think Henri Nouwen's meditation from yesterday provides powerful perspective. ****** DAILY MEDITATION | MARCH 26, 2021 - Jesus’ Hiddenness I don’t think you’ll ever be able to penetrate the mystery of God’s revelation in Jesus until it strikes you that the major part of Jesus’ life was hidden and that even the “public” years remained invisible as far as most [...]
Celebrating This Spring
Good morning... Enjoying a homemade, outdoor birthday dinner with two besties in my bundle, I am so grateful I was born in the spring. Spring is new life, longer days, and bursting beauty. Spring is renewal, revamping, reimagining. Spring is what happens when we wait with hope through the dark, cold, harsh, winter after winter. The day after our soul-filling evening, along with this picture my friend sent these wonderful words posted that [...]
Facing An Unknown Future
Good morning... Frustrated by no available parking spot, we sat stuck in a long line of cars trying to escape the crazy Costco crowd. "Look at this," I said to my husband. "Traffic has not been this bad since before the pandemic." With more and more people feeling freed by vaccination, I fear we are driving again toward frustrated. Stuck. Crazy. Crowds. "Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known [...]
As We Wake From Sleep
Good morning... "Unless the Eternal builds the house, those who labor to raise it will have worked for nothing," over the phone my friend quoted Psalm 127:1-2 (VOICE). Her gentle voice continued: "Unless the Eternal stands watch over the city, those who guard it have wasted their time." "God provides for His own," she encouraged. "It is pointless to get up early, work hard, and go to bed late anxiously laboring for food [...]
On My 58th Birthday
Good morning... Weeding through our overgrown ivy a few weekends back, I uncovered an old gift. This stained, clay square reads, "A garden of friends is always in bloom." On my fifty-eighth birthday, I sense this is true. Just as flowering occurs naturally in the garden, to my quiet amazement friendships bloom beautifully. Investing time together may cultivate growth. Closely walking and talking with others through grief, hardship, tragedy can nurture life-giving bonds. [...]
The Unmoved Rock
Good morning... On One Special Saturday while volunteering for Julie's Dream, I met a fascinating person. In his morning and afternoon talks, Omar Howard challenged the at risk teens from PAWkids to think wisely about their daily decisions. Omar, the founder of Freedom is a Choice Inc., is a successful individual with an incarcerated history. He uses his transformational time in prison as a tool for mentoring troubled youth and adults who are [...]
One Special Saturday
Good morning... Yesterday I celebrated the spring equinox in a very meaningful way. The word equinox comes from Latin, meaning "equality of night and day." Experiencing a balanced amount of light and darkness, our long winter officially tipped into spring 2021. Leaving the house at 6:45 am before the sun rose and not returning home until 8:45 pm long after the sun had set, I shared a special Saturday with a happy handful [...]
Wrapped In Love
Good morning... In yesterday's blog post I uncovered the word summing up for me this unusual semester of learning, "Unfinished." Unfinished is uncomfortable. Unfinished is unsettling. Unfinished is often unavoidable. I pressed "send" on our message then hopped in the car and drove to a friend's to walk and talk before our final class. Back and forth conversation. Mutually beneficial sharing. Sunshine, fresh air, unmasked smiles added another hour of joy to our [...]
Unfinished
Good morning... Today is the final Friday morning class of this weird semester. We have gathered in an open space at church rather than the cozy warmth of our living room. We have pulled uncomfortable stackable chairs into a circle, six feet apart, rather than relaxing on our couches with pillows, blankets, and our furry, friendly dogs. We have shared no teas, no snacks, no unmasked conversation, instead our hour each week has [...]