Good morning... How does God do it? How does God whisper in surround sound? At 2:30 in the morning, how does God spark me to write yesterday's post, "The art of holy listening," then wake me again at 6:00 am to read these companion, online words from Henri Nouwen's 1.14.16 daily meditation? Nouwen says profoundly: "Our minds are always active. We analyze, reflect, daydream, or dream. There is not a moment during the day [...]

Good morning... Tonight I will speak to a down-to-earth group of women, women who do so much for so many in our local community. Last year, this group gracefully hosted a large gathering to experience the wisdom of a newly published author. She spoke of finding a passion and following it. She spoke of her personal path toward publication success. She spoke of sharing our God-designed gifts with the needy world. She sold several [...]

Good morning... In the bleak mid winter, we crave spring. Pondering the work, I recognize that "spring" has four distinct definitions. Spring is a noun, a source of fresh water running endlessly beneath the earth's surface. Spring is a different noun, an annual season in which new life bursts forth across life's landscape. Spring is another noun, a resilient metal device exerting constant tension or absorbing movement. Spring is a verb, to come into [...]

Good morning... Fascinated, I read these words aloud to my class: "People may call what happens at midlife "a crisis," but it's not. It's an unraveling - a time when you feel a desperate pull to live the life you want to live, not the one you're "supposed" to live. The unraveling is a time when you are challenged by the universe to let go of who you think you are supposed to be [...]

Good morning... With a quarter of a century under my belt, I experienced my own cacophony in 1988. Remember? Cacophony means a mishmash of loud conflicting sounds, a racket, an uproar (see 1.7.16 post "Our un-lived parts."). I was a twenty-five year old newlywed, an inexperienced therapist living in Connecticut a long, long way from my childhood comfort in Ohio. As if it were a microphone set before my soul, my journal picked up [...]

Good morning... Walking with a friend before church yesterday, we touched on a truth Richard Rohr shared in his 1.10.16 online devotional. So instantly she forwarded his words from her phone to my email. After our walk, these words reached from my computer into my soul. Rohr writes: "In fact, God is in us, and in everything else that God created. We all have the divine DNA; everything bears the divine fingerprint, if the [...]

Good morning... God makes all kinds of people. There were several varieties at my son's middle school wrestling match in McDonough, Georgia yesterday. There were long haired and no haired and facial haired of all kinds. There were adorable three year old girls climbing the bleachers, the laps of loved ones, and the proverbial walls over time. There were old people and young people, with every age in between. There was talk of monster [...]

Good morning... The dead looking amaryllis bulb I planted in my pot before Thanksgiving has grown two two-foot stems, each with four six-inch flowers. Over the last ten weeks, it has been fascinating to watch the bulb gradually sprout, grow, and bloom. Yesterday, my amaryllis plant toppled over, top-heavy. It felt so symbolically perfect for the day I was having. Right now, I have a big bloom at work, a big bloom as a [...]

Good morning... On January 2nd, my post "Thirty day lessons," spoke of wisdom gleaned after facing the first days of extreme loss. Many of us resonated with the truth and forwarded the message on to loved ones groping through grief. I instantly thought of a friend who nearly lost her middle aged husband to a heart attack several months back, and I emailed her the post to let her know grateful I am that [...]

Good morning... One of my favorite books is Sue Monk Kidd's When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life's Sacred Questions. A question arises as I read Sue's words: “Back in the autumn I had awakened to a growing darkness and cacophony, as if something in the depths were crying out. A whole chorus of voices. Orphaned voices. They seemed to speak for all the un-lived parts of me, and they came with a [...]

Good morning... She is struggling through a major depression. Therapy. Medication. An inner circle of family and friends lean in to support her shuffle down this pitch black hallway. They can not carry her. They can not walk for her. They can not flip on a light switch to bring her relief. God whispers from somewhere: “I see what you’ve done. Now see what I’ve done. I’ve opened a door before you that no [...]

Good morning... Fellow Atlanta residents Dustin and Genevieve Ahkuoi posted this hilarious YouTube video on December 19th, and it enjoyed 20 million views in its first 24 hours. Since then, the video has gone viral precisely because it taps into the cravings of the human nature we all battle. Enjoy a chuckle! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/adele-hello-parody-junk-food_5676869ae4b0b958f656fdd4 They ate and had their fill; he handed them everything they craved on a platter. But their greed knew no bounds; [...]