I was looking for a poem to post the other day and found one titled “There, there, grieving.” I remember a friend whose father died many years before mine recalling a trip to a mall soon after his funeral where she was overwhelmed by the fact that everyone was acting like it was a normal…
bearings as soon as the fires went out we started looking for hope among the ruins sharing the same picture over and over of the cross beaming in the rubble I read that the towers were still standing that the organ had not been destroyed heard promise after promise of rebuilding even as the smoke…
Earlier this afternoon I received this e-mail message from our church office: Dear Church family, We have been made aware of a family of four (mother, father, and twin boys age 7) who lost everything in a fire. Below is a list of what is needed for them to rebuild their household. Linens: Twin Sheet…
When I sat down tonight to write, what came to mind are songs that capture the emotions of the week ahead, which are not easy feelings. Part of the challenge every year for me is not to rush to Easter but to take the loss and grief seriously. Here, then, is my soundtrack, which is…
notes from the road we drove through a fog this morning so thick we couldn’t see New Haven from the highway though we could see the road in front of us at least far enough to keep moving on hold that thought The particles of light in sky and sea that look blue on the…
ship’s log it seems like a lifetime ago that we stood on the deck of the USS Constitution a still-commissioned vessel named for our defining document to learn much of it had been replaced because it was still considered active—a work in progress only in museums does it matter that nothing changes because sameness is…
An Open Letter to Dr. Linda Livingtone, President of Baylor University Dear Dr. Livingstone, I am one of the Baylor alumni who signed the petition asking you to recognize LGBTQ student groups on campus in light of the university’s decision to allow Matt Walsh to speak on campus. I was encouraged when I read through…
This morning, like many who attend a worship service that follows the Revised Common Lectionary, I heard a sermon from John 12 about Mary pouring the expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet and Judas protesting about how the money could have been used otherwise. This is Mary, sister of Martha, who is also famous for wanting…
This week, I had to do an online training for work on cyber security. I was five or six screens in when they presented the “threat landscape.” The Oxford dictionary says the word threat finds its roots in German and Old English words that mean oppression, grieve, and irritate, which is an interesting combination. the…
About three years ago, I had a cortisone shot in my knee. It helped up until last December when they gave me another one and sent me to physical therapy. Neither was effective; in fact, the therapy made things worse, so I stopped going. Last month I went back to my doctor and he scheduled…