Good morning... In the dark of this night, I feel drawn to page 154 in one of my favorite books, When the Heart Waits, by Sue Monk Kidd. I return to the section entitled EASTERING. Midway through the next page I read: "My thoughts about Jesus waiting in the tomb for Easter began to blend with the thoughts [...]
Good morning... I brought two good friends with me to the Maundy Thursday service at Northside Church yesterday. After reading about Jesus serving his first communion at the Last Supper (Luke 22:14-23) and his painful struggle to surrender to the will of God in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:39-53), we were all invited to kneel at the [...]
Good morning... A friend's comment caused an important shift. "People do not die of cancer," she said. "People live with cancer." I suppose it is the same with Alzheimers, heart disease, and grief. With the moments we are given, might we ask, "God, how might I best live this day?" It was almost time for the Passover Feast. [...]
Good morning... In the middle of this droopy, drizzly night, I think back on the most meaningful two hours of this week. On Sunday night, Elizabeth, the 38-year-old daughter-in-law of our dear friend Joan, shared a really hard post, explaining that her colon cancer had spread. "Any chance you all can have lunch with Joan and I tomorrow?" [...]
Good morning... In the place where the full moon exists, I see only layers of clouds. Anticipating fullness of light, this night feels anticlimactic, a drooping disappointing. The soupy, grey sky mirrors our hearts as our hopes for a permanent solution, for lasting relief, for fullness of life feel clouded over. Prayers fall limp. High hopes feel dashed. [...]
Good morning... Without our dogs, I would miss so much. Finger-to-fur time. Companionship on walks. Eyes that melt the tensions of life. Adorable sleeping snores. The loud lapping of water. The funny habit of flipping and chasing food. A loving ear to lean on, always. Whole-bodied happiness as anyone walks in the door. Without our dogs, I would [...]
Good morning... On my 61st birthday, I wake to an empty home, two dogs, and one spring birthday doll. My husband is away in Nicaragua, checking out a possible location for his upcoming new adventure as travel director for Lovett Expeditions. One daughter is in a wedding in Nashville, Tennessee; the other daughter is visiting with college friends [...]
Good morning... In the middle of the night, I pull out the "blob tree" tree that I crafted during our therapeutic community group at PAWkids this week. I know there is violence on the corner of a distant branch. I know there is loneliness and isolation and despair. But, feeling like the purple person on the perch, I [...]
Good morning... As she read to me over the phone this poem by Ranier Maria Rilke, I calmed into my body in a very settled way. "Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final. Don't let yourself lose me." Embodying this whisper, everything is [...]
Good morning... "God, thank You for allowing me to sleep through the night." This prayer fills me as I wake. Extended sleep is a rare occurrence for me, a listening nocturnal writer. "7:34," says my phone as I take my first peek. What a restorative luxury, this sleeping through the night. Now my prayers lift a protective covering [...]
