Dear Reader, What’s so holy about going to the grocery store? Or doing laundry? Or taking a meal to a sick friend? Or changing a diaper? You might think of sacraments as things like the Eucharist (Communion) or Baptism, or Marriage. But when we do all that we do for Christ and in Christ, we…
When I hear the word sacramental, the image (and voice) that pops into my mind is that of Mel Brooks, satirically clad in the attire of a Jewish Rabbi, leading a mule-drawn cart full of Sacramental Wine. He stops to chat with Robin Hood and his Merry Men clad in tight (tight) tights, and then…
Over the last 25 years I have become weaker and less mobile due to my chronic, disabling illness. I have become unable to be an active part of any church or community. At times I have felt very isolated and wondered if I were really part of the Body of Christ. So much of the…
Hours after my daughter was born, a nurse whisked her out of the room for the pediatrician to examine. My husband followed as I lay in bed worrying. When he returned, he said the pediatrician had heard a click in our daughter’s hips and that we would need to go to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. …
Every day on our farm, I engage in the ritualistic task of moving manure to our compost pile. Cleaning the barn is a familiar and comforting chore, allowing me to transform something objectionable and just plain stinky to a tangible benefit: growing the nurturing fertilizer of the future. Unlike some daily rituals in my life, it…
It was a warm November day, the leaves had only recently begun to turn, and the maples along our street were blazing in deep reds and oranges. The air smelled earthy, pungent, and I could hear the crackle of the fall leaves beneath my feet even over the podcast on my AirPods. All of this…
It was a night in the late winter of 2010. I had a six-month-old baby and a two-and-a-half-year-old. Life was full of diapers, keeping nap times, and playing with my toddler while my baby slept. I didn’t know where my quiet inner spaces had gone. Life was busy, so busy of here-to-there and everywhere in…