More magazine, which I enjoy for its insightful articles, has a monthly column: one month it is entitled “This is What 40 Looks Like,” the next, “This is What 50 Looks Like.” It always includes a picture of a beautiful woman and a bio extolling all of the wonderful things her life includes, changing stereotypes [...]
The heavens are telling the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech and night to night declares knowledge Psalm 19:1-2 I’m sitting on the deck, meditating, when a wren’s raucous song jolts me back to earth. Open your eyes, she cries. Open your eyes! I open my [...]
After Wally leaves for work, I bring my Bible, journal, and tea into the garden. A light mist hovers over the fields across the road, and I am surprised to see tender green shoots of corn forming rows where yesterday there was nothing but dirt. All around me, Dame’s Rocket thrusts purple and white spires [...]
A deep stillness descended over the woods as I walked, its peacefulness gradually permeating my spirit. My black lab, Poco, ran on ahead, nose to the ground, snuffling in the unexpected February snow. A loud crackling and crashing in the underbrush to the right of the path broke the silence. I stopped. Leashing the dog, [...]
Last night a wind blew in from the north, leaving frost on the fields across the road and a nip in the air. I have the day to myself, and plan to sit inside with a cup of tea. This autumn afternoon invites a time of prayer, a good novel, and maybe even a nap. [...]
“Our vocation is not only to do what the Word told us to do but also to say what the Word told us to say, until the whole world is transformed by the news.” Barbara Brown Taylor, When God is Silent Is there anything more beautiful than a walk in the woods in the middle [...]
Heel, toe. Heel, toe. Heel, toe. Amazing, how such a small, controlled movement on my part puts the swing in motion. Heel, toe. Heel, toe. Heel, toe. It’s a matter of moments before my heart rate matches the rhythm of the swing, my spinning thoughts calm, and my tense muscles relax. I’ve entered another realm. [...]
This week, last year, I was in Rome with Bridge for Peace, an international healing ministry. The team consisted of Ed, Annette, Mark, Nora, my husband Wally, and I. We were there to pray for priests and religious, mainly from third-world countries. Men and women of God far away from home, studying for doctorates or [...]
Don’t you love the way God sometimes brings a book into your life at the very moment you need it? A couple of years ago I picked up Joyce Rupp’s book, Praying Our Goodbyes, thinking I would give it to a friend who was grieving the loss of her mother. It ended up under a [...]
Epiphany: (1) : a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something (2) : an intuitive grasp of reality through something (as an event) usually simple and striking (3) : an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure. (Miriam Webster Dictionary) Today I slept in (9:45 am!) read the Enquirer, answered e-mails, [...]