Good morning... When we gathered together for our final Friday class, we read these words out loud from the lips of ninety-four-year-old Betty Skinner. "The conscious and disciplined work of awakening our senses is vital to the life of the Spirit within us. It helps to move us from our heads to our hearts. The marvel of the [...]
Good morning... "Where's dad?" our twenty-one year old daughter asked. "He's on the back porch drinking bourbon with his brother." The sentence sounded super silly as it rolled right off my tongue, since Steve's only brother lives in Omaha, Nebraska umpteen miles away from our corner of the globe in Atlanta, Georgia. A new habit has formed in [...]
Good morning... Surprisingly, one of my supervisor's survey questions pierced a sensitive nerve, sort of like when the dentist finds a cavity and pain shoots everywhere. "When it comes to workload at Northside, how heavy is the burden or light is the load?" That was the question striking my nesting nerve. We were asked to respond on a scale [...]
Good morning... A friend ended her email with a quote from Pascal: "In difficult times, always keep something beautiful in your heart." What "something beautiful" - a hope, a thought, a feeling, a memory - rests in the home of your heart right now? Sense it. Savor it. Slip it into your soul. As you focus fully on this "beautiful [...]
Good morning... Unable to gather for our weekly class, she and I walked around the public park. We found our place into the spacious stream of smiling people and friendly dogs. During this strange season of social distancing, it was the perfect way to unpack our deep thoughts. Slow. Soulful. Simple. After finishing our sunny stroll she said, [...]
Good morning... I remember a poem read at the funeral of a dear friend who died of cancer. I search for it, I find it, and I adapt it to meet the deep need spreading across our globe today. ****** An adaptation of "What Cancer Cannot Do" by Dr. Robert L. Lynn Coronavirus is so limited... It cannot [...]
Good morning... With the Coronavirus changing life so rapidly, last Friday morning I didn't know if women would want to gather in our living room to discuss chapters 9 and 10 in The Hidden Life Awakened. So I sent out an email polling people's opinions about meeting for our weekly class. A few women were nursing a cold [...]
Good morning... This Sabbath Sunday is a unique one. As our bodies are held still at home, we refrain from gathering in large groups. Distancing from our normal "Cat in the Hat" balancing act, we slow down. We stay in. We sense God with our soul: "You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand [...]
Good morning... A friend sent me this poem written by a woman I probably will not meet until our souls see each other in heaven. ****** Pandemic What if you thought of it as the Jews consider the Sabbath— the most sacred of times? Cease from travel. Cease from buying and selling. Give up, just for now, on [...]
Good morning... I watch the news so I know how to best pray, day after day. I watch different television stations to consider various points of view. I lift in prayer those I see struggling and those I see serving, those I see hurting and those I see helping, those I see reporting and those I see recovering. [...]
