How Can Students Shoot Students?
Good morning... "Last month, as the 20th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting approached, STEM School Highlands Ranch joined hundreds of schools near Denver in closing temporarily amid security concerns," reports a New York Times article. "The anniversary came and went, and schools returned to their routines. But on Tuesday afternoon, the STEM school’s worst fears were realized when nine of its students were shot, one fatally, and two fellow students were being held [...]
Freed From Our Hell
Good morning... From worm to harrow, from insect to iron, from the Bible verse that concluded yesterday's post on the evolution of our God-given-self, I did not know the meaning of the noun harrow. Harrow, as a verb, is more familiar to me. To actively harrow means to rob, ruin, ravage. To strip, spoil, severe. To destroy, devastate, demolish. When we feel puny as a worm or fragile as an insect, the verb harrow feels [...]
We Are Always Evolving
Good morning... Waiting for my son's Eagle Scout booklet to be bound at Fed Ex, I browsed the tall circular card rack. Whoever comes up with these hilarious expressions of common emotion gets a gold star in my gratitude book. I fell so in love with one birthday card that I bought two copies, one for my 82-year-old dad in Ohio and one for my lifelong friend in Connecticut, loved ones who were [...]
Savor Sabbath: We Heal Together
Good morning... When I look back on this week of growing spiritually with you, I must admit I was a bit embarrassed that I had written about God "easter-ing" in us on the Monday after a weekend revealing another senseless synagogue shooting. "Easter-ing" is about Christ living on in us, right? And our Jewish friends have different beliefs about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. How can God "easter" in us in [...]
Mend Me More
Good morning... We are broken. All of us. In one way or another. Jewish and Christian. Shooters and survivors. Homeless and mansion-dwellers. In the midst of this one-of-a-kind week, I forget how God led me to this poem written by Lauretta P. Burns in 1957. LET GO AND LET GOD! As children bring their broken toys with tears for us to mend, I brought my broken dreams to God, because He was my friend. But [...]
Watch This Short Video
Good morning... I touched on the video link in yesterday's post, a link highlighting the important work of the Ignatian Spirituality Project (ISP). What popped up in tiny letters on my screen? "Error establishing a database connection." God is in our glitches, and I absolutely love that I can share a whole post on this transformational non-profit ministry. "The Ignatian Spirituality Project (ISP)," their website explains, "works to end homelessness by offering Ignatian retreats, [...]
You Help Me
Good morning... You help me to grow in God as I help others to grow in God, who help others to grow in God. Let me explain. Last month, for the first time, I filed taxes for our written word ministry. Having incubated for years in the womb of my church work, my husband and I birthed my early-morning posts into the world by investing in our everyday blog ministry, a ministry you [...]
How Can I Make A Difference?
Good morning... "Very well said, Sue," he wrote after yesterday's post, a post highlighting the loving response of a rabbi following a shooting in his California synagogue. "Incidents of pure evil like the one in Poway and the suicide bombings at the Christian churches in Sri Lanka during Easter services that killed more than 200 persons celebrating the risen Christ are truly heartbreaking. Acts of love and going to our Father in prayer [...]
Shocked By A Shooting
Good morning... As I turned on the news I quickly opened my journal. From an interview with the rabbi whose California synagogue was attacked by a gunman, deep hurt and deeper hope splattered quotes on my page. There is a war out there between darkness and light. America is a nation who believes in God. Celebrating our religious freedom, together we stand up. It's all about action, confident acts of kindness. Our job [...]
We “Easter” Joy
Good morning... As the plastic, pastel eggs are tucked away for next year and the last chocolate Easter bunnies are now at ninety percent off, I am brought back to the spring wisdom of When The Heart Waits. "There is a line from a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins that speaks to me: 'Let him easter in us, be a dayspring to the dimness of us, be a crimson-cresseted east,'" writes Sue Monk Kidd [...]
Savor Sabbath: You Are Like Me
Good morning... You are like me. Imperfect. Improving. Intimately to connected to God, Self, and others. As an online community, we bring our whole selves out from the isolating dark, where negatives develop, into the light of God's redeeming love. I enjoy taking time on Sundays to savor where we have been, reviewing the spiritual baby steps we toddle, week by week. Another cool thing for me is that different posts get better [...]
We Name. God Tames.
Good morning... As we gathered for the last time this semester for our Monthly Spiritual Growth Group, I read aloud from my heavily underlined copy of The Hidden Life Awakened. Sharing from pages 130 and 131, I highlighted the spiritual growth of our spiritual mentor 93-year-old Betty Skinner. "All of this inner work was gradually bringing Betty to a clearer knowing of her true self as well as enabling the presence and love [...]