Remembering Dede
Good morning... Yesterday I went to the memorial service for Edith (Dede) Burnette, the mom of a loyal friend in our Friday morning class. Held in our small chapel at Northside Church, the service offered beautiful music (Blessed Assurance and Amazing Grace), encouraging Scriptures (Psalm 23, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, Revelation 21:1-7), and a few prayers with brief, touching remarks from our senior pastor. Simple. Sacred. The service was inspiring. Afterward, we were invited to [...]
Are You Struggling Too?
Good morning... With the humid heat and our furry dog, I began a short walk to take care of her business. When I saw a gorgeous plume of colorful clouds blessing the morning sky, I turned around and went back to our home to get my phone. With leash in hand, I awkwardly took photos of the gentle beauty surprising my eyes. After our [...]
Walking Each Other Home
Good morning... On the same morning my 86 year old mom left the skilled nursing care center to return home to the villa with my dad in Ohio, a dear, dear friend settled her own aging mom into her new home, a memory care facility in Huntsville, Alabama. That same evening, another loyal friend rested beside her mom at a hospital in Atlanta, as she was in the care of hospice. Her mom [...]
Welcome Bags & Loving Words
Good morning... Sarah Otto, the Retreat and Program Director at Ignatius House Retreat Center, reached out to me on Tuesday morning. "I realize I didn't text you about an upcoming ISP retreat!" she wrote. (Remember, ISP stands for Ignatian Spirituality Project, a program which offers quarterly spiritual retreats for people recovering from homelessness and addiction in our community). "We've got a women's overnight next week: August 6-7. Will it be possible for your [...]
Live This Quote
Good morning... "Hi Sue," she wrote after yesterday's blog post. "Up early today and feeling connected to you and your thoughts. Your messages always draw me back toward a centering orbit. Thank you for the beacon, the reminder - that every day we live, breathe, and walk through our day - is the most precious blessing." Below her name, lived this quote: "I cannot do all the good that the world needs. But the [...]
A Second Birth
Good morning... I received this fun photo from my sister yesterday. In March, she will celebrate the birth of her second grandchild. Soon after, I received another text. "We started hospice care on my mom today," wrote a friend who has been nurturing her mother in the ICU. "What might that look like?" I texted back. "We started pain medicine around 1:00 pm today," she explained. "They say it will be less than [...]
Break Out Of Your Shell
Good morning... Might it be time to break out of your shell? We can learn important lessons from a baby chick. The protective shell, which has been strong enough to shield the creature from the outside world, eventually becomes permeable. As the maturing bird absorbs calcium from the egg, her bones grow stronger, stronger, stronger. Additional calcium is transferred from the shell to the beak, developing a sturdy tool for the process of [...]
Stuck At The Airport
Good morning... Stuck at the airport, so many people have experienced travel troubles this summer. In solidarity with the mixed-up masses, a friend shared a real story which gently shifts our perspective. ****** "Gate A-4" by Naomi Shihab Nye Wandering around the Albuquerque Airport Terminal, after learning my flight had been delayed four hours, I heard an announcement: "If anyone in the vicinity of Gate A-4 understands any Arabic, please come to the [...]
Please Take Your Time
Good morning... After writing about our need to be kneaded by God, I am drawn back to an old favorite poem. The first line begins: "It takes time to bake a loaf of bread, to grind, to knead, to wait..." Please take your time, reading these sacred words as slowly as you can. ****** It Takes Time by NOEL DAVIS FROM “HEART GONE WALKABOUT” It takes time to bake a loaf of bread, [...]
We Need To Be Kneaded
Good morning... One line lingers from the prayer she prayed. "Lord, knead us into one." Jesus makes clear God's vision. The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind— Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, so they might be one heart and mind with us (John 17:21a, MSG). Form. Mold. Fashion. Sculpt. "Lord, knead us into one." Then he shares a hands-on parable. Imagine [...]
Peace. Power. Purpose.
Good morning... I love this unique bird rising up into purple. Purple, the higher way we have been exploring with God. Purple, the masterful blending of red, white, and blue. Purple, our patchy pathway forward into God's peace, God's power, God's purposes. "Our life is an apprenticeship to the truth that around every circle another circle can be drawn," notices Ralph Waldo Emerson, "that there is no end in nature, but every end [...]
The Fear In My Head
Good morning... Our friend read this poem aloud to us over the phone. Now might we read these tender words aloud to ourselves? ****** have courage to be a beginner entrust your time to telling a tale in which the ending is veiled. build patience for the harsh voice inside; she is still a child who believes perfection is the prerequisite to belonging. over and over I find that behind every voice of [...]