Good morning... The Thursday before Easter is called Maundy Thursday. Christ's final "mandate" is commemorated today, with "maundy" being a shortened form of the Latin word "mandatum," which means "command." What command or mandate is so important to Jesus that it is given its own special day in the church year? At Thursday's Last Supper with his disciples, Jesus says: "A new [...]
Good morning... Tee Davis, the wise mother of Julie Harlan who died at age 42 from stomach cancer one year ago this week, texted me yesterday after our blog post, Tilting Our True Self. “Hi Sue. I wrote down the last sentence of your message today in my Jesus Calling book. It reminds me of my Julie. Thank you. [...]
Good morning... The night we first met, I sat next to her at dinner. Fragile feeling. Truth-tellers. Something we said sparked her soul to recite for me a poem: "Even if I don't see it again - nor ever feel it," words from her heart came soft and sure. "I know it is - and that if once it hailed [...]
Good morning... "Unlimited Possibilities" is the phrase that filled my mind as I woke yesterday. Where was "Unlimited Possibilities" hiding? Might I have written those two words in my Awake To Wellness notes? I comb through the scribblings in my retreat journal, and, sure enough, I find "Unlimited Possibilities." What was Dr. Cathy Snapp teaching us when I jotted [...]
Good morning... As I stir from sleep, one phrase fills my focus: "Unlimited Possibilities." Though I took tons and tons of notes during our two-day retreat, on the tip of my brain's tongue, this morning after, rest two distinct words: "Unlimited Possibilities." Unlocked by this one two-word phrase, biblical promises begin bubbling up from my gut, through my heart, [...]
Good morning... "Contemplation is taking a long, loving look at something," softly said pianist Dana Cunningham during yesterday's Awake To Wellness Women's Retreat. This morning, I take a long, loving look at two stick figure people juxtaposed on my page of notes, a drawing etched as author Dr. Cathy Snapp joyfully taught. The skeleton stick figure on the left [...]
Good morning... As I recently told you, my signed copy of The Hidden Life Awakened was hiding somewhere. Until today, when it surprisingly appeared in a pile on my desk, on the first day of our Awake To Wellness Women's Retreat led by the book's authors. God's timing often makes me laugh. I fell in love with the first [...]
Good morning... "Nothing on our spiritual journey is ever final," says Betty Skinner on page 83 of my old, tattered copy of The Hidden Life. "It is a continuous change and movement from what is good (the place where most of us live, desiring to love and serve God) to what is better (an open and intense desire to [...]
Good morning... "Sweet Sue," she emailed me, "I saw you and a friend walking yesterday as I pulled out of my driveway, and I wanted to stop but I was running late to get somewhere." She continued: "I am so looking forward to the retreat at St. Philip's on Saturday! I have found a beautiful way to initiate contact [...]
Good morning... As a class, we found Parker Palmer's insights very, very convicting. We all love people who experience seasons of suffering. We all want to help people out of their pain. Yet, when Parker was "in his misery," loved ones came to offer "sympathy that led him deeper into despair." Experience this excerpt from Let Your Life Speak [...]
