A Chocolate Chip Cookie
Good morning... Last Monday in the PAWkids Afterschool Enrichment program, we had messy fun. Paints. Pie pans. Pieces of paper. The kids made imprints of different images. One girl, who happens to be Mike Mike's niece, lost her grandmother in an unsolved murder last month. She said, "I want to make a chocolate chip cookie. My grandma always made us chocolate chip cookies. I loved her cookies. I want to make a chocolate chip [...]
How Does Love Multiply?
Good morning... When the Holy Spirit in me meets the Holy Spirit in you, the love of God multiplies. But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness [...]
From Brutal To Butterflies
Good morning... As women came through our wooden side gate on Wednesday afternoon, we lingered in the warm sunshine. With a gentle breeze tickling the wind chimes, we collected beneath our back porch. For the first time this season, we held class on our outdoor furniture amid the symphony of the birds. Continuing to journey through our book, Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May, we discussed [...]
In The Face Of Deep Divides
Good morning... We began this semester studying one book, Wintering by Katharine May. To our surprise, we will end this semester studying a second book, Parker Palmer's new 25th anniversary edition of Let Your Life Speak. We did not plan this expansion into more, but the seamlessness of these oddly orange book covers, set side by side, offers a visual nod from God, "You, my friends, are following my lead." [...]
I Was So Disappointed
Good morning... Yesterday morning, I was expecting the highly anticipated Blood Moon effect of a total lunar eclipse, so I woke when it was predicted to be at peak. Instead of seeing the full moon mysteriously turn red, I saw clouds. Grey. Dense. Blinding clouds. "What a disappointment!" said the body language of our twelve year old dog, Gracie. Yet, our disappointment turned to [...]
38 Billion Ways
Good morning... The bright light of tonight's full moon fills our home at 1:00 am. The Blood Moon of the total lunar eclipse, best seen in our area between 6:00 and 7:00 am this morning, will be more than 38 billion miles away (I think). I met an honest poem yesterday with that distance as its title. ******* "38 Billion" by Naomi Shihab Nye [...]
The Moon Is On Fire
Good morning... It feels like the world is on fire. Doesn't it? Bombs detonating. Flames charring. Plumes of smoke rising. Buildings demolished. Lives destroyed. People displaced. As aggression is ignited in various corners of the globe, it feels like our world is on fire. Tonight it will feel as if the moon is on fire too. The Old Farmer's Almanac teaches us intriguing facts. Tonight's full moon is known as the Worm Moon, [...]
The Joy Of Being Sad
Good morning... "We travelled through dark moments together," writes Katherine May on page 120 of Wintering. "I won't pretend it was fun. But it was necessary all the same. We raged and grieved together. We were overcome with fear. We worried and slept it off, and didn't sleep, and let our timetables turn upside down. We didn't so much retreat from the world as let it recede from us. We howled out in [...]
Our Dogs In Heaven
Good morning... As we learn to see the larger and deeper grace cushioning life's harsher blows, we allow the Spirit's teachings to take deeper root in us. When the power of the Eternal assumes center stage in our daily lives, the veil between earth and heaven gradually thins. "I love this sentence of yours..." a friend wrote after last Friday's post. "I truly believe God's eternal promise is extended to our dogs. And [...]
See A Deeper Truth
Good morning... Typically, for the classes I teach, our winter/spring semester concludes just before Holy Week. This winter, with Easter being so early, our final classes are scheduled for the last week of March. "We don't want to end that early," my Thursday class protested. "Can we do another book together in the month of April?" I agreed to pray about the possibility, and God drew me to the perfect book to partner [...]
Brave Enough To Begin
Good morning... As my husband and I were away visiting my family in Ohio this weekend, our dog sitter retrieved from the front porch bag after bag, box after box, donated item after donated item. Yesterday, I spent time assembling and dropping off the fifteen Welcome Bags we created for the recovering women arriving for the ISP retreat at Ignatius House today. The retreat, entitled "Brave Enough To Begin Again," will offer a [...]
Crash Or Be Carried?
Good morning... Flying home from Ohio in the early morning dark, I looked out the window and saw the intriguing image above. We were flying forward with black direction arrows pointing back. Somehow it felt like the world we are living in right now. Confusion. Conflicting messages. Flying forward while being directed backward. It reminds me of an example from Dallas Willard's The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God, a very [...]