All those hours in front of a blank screen leave our thoughts whirling in a cyclone, twisting out of control until our words find a place to touch down.
Deconstructing a Foundation
I crawl underneath a 100-year-old house to inspect its sinking foundation. Built on post and pier a century ago, its footings are settling into the sand. Beneath the floorboards the foreman points out the rotting posts and the unstable footings. Already afraid, with...
Purpose
His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace. Ephesians 2:15 Two broken entities. Colors shouting back and forth to each other: You are one. I am the other. He has already made us One. He has broken down the wall of...
Free
A winter tomb. A cavern womb. A lodge for pain. Grief branches into limbs and sinew and marrow. Ache lingers there. Warm brown arms envelope this tomb. Breath buries into her bosom. “Release that pain!” Her prayer over me unfurls its rooted hold. Tendrils of freedom...
Closet Confession
I confess. I love shoes. They were the last thing I bought before the pandemic hit. But they were bought in secret. With a credit card. An expensive pair of sandals I had been eyeing for a while. While on vacation in a city with my favorite store, I caved in. It was...
Wrapped in the Weight of Glory
...to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son—it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain. But so it is. (C.S. Lewis) I experienced the impossible in...
The Enduring Flavors of Family Culture
Someone may see me in passing, take a glance, and ask, “Where do you come from?” Depending on my mood, I may answer, “I’m from Seattle,” then walk away. Or, if I feel like disclosing more information, I may answer, “My parents are from the Philippines, but I was born...
Amusement Ride
Our hearts are restless, looking for connection in the most casual of places: a People magazine in the grocery store line or the trailer of an upcoming movie. In this entertainment saturated culture of ours, we spend hundreds of hours and dollars seeking diversion and...
Listing
I was stuck. In the most giving season of my life—raising teenage children, caring for my mother with Alzheimer’s in my home—I was stuck. Wedged in a pit of self. Patience wore like a thin wall. Anger ignited like a wildfire. Sleep eluded like a shadow. My teenage...
Vina Mogg
Vina Mogg is a Northwest native, raised in Tacoma, Washington, who graduated from Ohio State University in English Education. After living in Windermere, Florida, for 30 years, she has returned to the Northwest to gaze at Mt. Rainier from her home in Gig Harbor, Washington. For the past seven years she has been writing regarding issues about Alzheimer’s and family on her website, seaglasslife.com.. Recently she published “Messy Edges” in an anthology of essays compiled by Leslie Leyland Fields, 40 Women over 40 on Faith, Aging, Beauty and Strength, “Throw a Hail Mary” in Ruminate Magazine, and poetry on thewritelaunch.com. She has been a guest writer on Huffingtonpost.com, grandparentslink.com, Redbudwriters.com and mudroomblog.com, alzauthors.com, and washingtonpoeticroutes.com.
Vina is the mother of four, married for 37 years, with two grandpuppies and a cat.
