I’ve started lighting a candle every time I lose something. Not when I lose something like my keys or cell phone. I light a candle when I face the kind of loss that causes grief—from the seemingly insignificant grief of the loss of time with friends during a pandemic year, to the more recognizable grief…
Your loved one has died. The shock wears off and there are arrangements to be made, people to call. And in between, you ask yourself if it’s real. Grief comes and makes himself comfortable in your life. And you quietly wonder if he’ll ever leave. But what if there are no arrangements to be made…
I once lived in a second-story condo along a large river and if I’d had any arm strength whatsoever, it would’ve been a stone’s throw from the water. A pair of great blue herons lived within sight of what was my favorite spot—an 8×5 deck just off the dining room. I never grew bored of…
There’s a bumper-sticker slogan that says, “If God seems distant, guess who moved.” Pithy, right? But not very helpful. We often struggle to feel that God is near. Hardships, depression, busyness, pride. These are all things that can veil God’s face to us. When the skies are blue, we feel we can see God more…
Zacchaeus had heard of Jesus. Jesus was passing through Jericho, Luke tells us in chapter 19 of his gospel, but stopped to sit with and attend to an image bearer, Zacchaeus. Being a chief publican (or tax collector) meant Zacchaeus wasn’t welcomed in many places. He was ignored by the community despite being wealthy. Even…
“Where are you God?” is often the cry of a wounded heart. If we learn to be aware of the presence of God on a continual basis, these doubts are less overwhelming when crisis hits. Recognizing the nearness of God means we see his hand of mercy everywhere. Pondering, wondering, and linking our moments to…
I hadn’t realized just how much I longed for the reawakening of spring until it came. With each deep draw of damp-earth scent into my lungs, something in me came alive again, something I didn’t know had gone dormant. Over these last few weeks, I’ve walked around our yard, hungrily searching for new evidence of…
“Why are you crying? Don’t cry. Shake it off. You’ll feel better tomorrow. Smile. Shouldn’t you be over it by now?” These are a few of the messages I heard surrounding my tears growing up. I heard them on the softball field, in the classroom, from family, from friends. As a Highly Sensitive Person who…
Dear Readers, William Wordsworth once said, “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” Even though spring is bursting with new life, evoking powerful feelings, it has a tranquility about it as well. Doesn’t spring just inspire poetry in your heart? Songs, poems, spoken word pieces….
There’s a pile in my closet: a skirt too small, a shirt too stained, pants too worn. They wait, expectantly, for a transformation, for deft scissors and clever thread, a re-imagination of grace. But I hang in the moment between the death of the old and the…
That day I turned around, and life had flown… Whilst chasing dreams and children; Both stumbling and soaring in the search for holy significance. Compassionately rescued from despair; Gifted with a grace that accepts and extends; Encouraged and loved. Discovering serenity in silence, and strength in surrender. Filled, then poured out. Heart broken, then mended….
the white-haired Mexican plum tree is a sign for good brave blue flower in the stiff wind is a sign for good children playing unselfconsciously is a sign for good spirit taking the trees by their tops and shaking them is a sign for good you have to hang on to your signs while…
For Ellis Kennedy, 4 years old I promised him yesterday That the water would hold him up, But he curled inward and snatched For my hands underneath him And dropped from the surface, Instantly heavy. I coaxed him to ear-depth And we blew bubbles, Eyes on each other. There would be no proof Unless he…
reflecting on the woman with the issue of blood from Matthew 9 You do not need to think your way to faith fierce enough to frighten fragility into a footnote. You do not need to lace your lips with lustrous prayers or pound your chest in penance for the puzzle of your pain. You do…