I woke up to a surprise snowfall this morning, and nowhere I had to be immediately, so I sat down for my morning coffee and continuing conversation with Madeleine L’Engle and Marilynne Robinson. Even though their two books were written two decades apart and, as far as I know, independent of one another, I am…
Today has been a difficult day. I struggled to find words. I might do better to say these words found me. lost and found everything rides on the conjunction— and, not or. I am both. lost in grief, and found by friends; full of joy, and broken hearted. grief house rock— what’s my function? Peace,…
Today would have been my parents’ sixtieth wedding anniversary, so this morning I went looking for Wendell Berry’s poem “The Country of Marriage” to set the tone for my day, landing on these words in particular: Our bond is no little economy based on the exchange of my love and work for yours, so much…
Today’s words grew out of those suggested when I was crowdsourcing ideas for my Lenten writings. The suggestion was best friends. After hearing from some lifelong friends over the past several days in different ways, I made a slight adjustment. Thinking about the words set me to thinking of songs, and so I offer another musical journey…
”What About Me?” Mark 5:21-43 A Sermon for First Congregational Church of Guilford UCC February 28, 2016 Let me begin this morning by saying you’re going to hear a story you’ve heard before. In fact, you’re going to hear one you heard just a couple of weeks ago when Ginger preached about the woman who…
From time to time, as I read an author’s work, my connection with the writer moves beyond the page to a more personal connection. They become my friend—an odd use of the word, I suppose, having never met them—because of the resonance I feel. Reading their books becomes a conversation of sorts. I can almost…
Today has been a day of missing for me. I began by posting this picture of my mother’s recipe box, which now resides here in Guilford. She has stayed on my mind ever since. My brother and sister-in-law left today for Cambodia , which they have done before, but somehow it matters more this time….
Our church has a gathering each Wednesday night during Lent and they asked me to prepare the meals. I spent the day working on soups and bread and dessert for sixty and, after sitting here at the computer for some time now trying to keep my promise, I have found the words elusive, other than…
weather report yes, there’s a certain sadness in the tears of a late night rain, the showers of memories, now caught in tiny sidewalk ponds— and I’m stepping around them, wishing you would call to say you saw the storm on the news, them ask about the weather as if our lives depended on it….
When I asked for words to ponder during Lent, one friend offered two: soul music. As I started thinking about it, I began to think of songs, though not necessarily Motown. I began to think of songs that have spoken to me in recent times–some old, some new. Tonight, then, I offer a Lenten soundtrack…