Hello, friends. How are you? This is a hard time we are in. The other night, I couldn't fall asleep. I had a hard time breathing and couldn't catch my breath. I couldn't stop shaking. My thoughts went to: "Oh no! It's Corona! Who have I made sick?" I ran downstairs to take my temperature. … Continue reading You are not Alone
A few weeks ago, in the middle of Peter Heller's mystery novel Celine, I ran across this quote that I needed: "There might not be a measure of happiness left in a life, but there could be beauty and grace and endless love." This last refrain resounded like a prayer, like a song: there could … Continue reading When Grace and Grief Collide
"Come and see . . ." These may just be my favorite words in the Bible today. I say today, because maybe other words will hold that distinction tomorrow. For today, "Come and see" sends a breath of life into my heart. These words are an invitation to not know now. I am invited to … Continue reading Come and See: The Invitation of Imaginative Prayer
On New Year's Eve, I said good-night to my 11-year-old, and the weight of a decade hit me in the chest. Where were we 10 years ago? In another life. Another city, a different house, we only had two kids, neither in school yet. Time and circumstances have reshaped the way we spend our time … Continue reading What Does it Mean to Live Yes? (On Marking Time and Living Forward)
Last year, when December was just around the corner, and I noticed that my to-do list was becoming more and more consuming, I asked the question: "How do I want to be this season?" I knew that the answer was not: stressed or focused on buying things or getting stuff done. Rather, I wanted to … Continue reading An Advent Calendar for Wonder and an Open Heart
Before I get lost in the to-do list. Before I jot down lists of presents to buy. Before I stock my pantry in anticipation of Christmas baking. Before I get out ornaments and lights. I need to take a breath. I need to take another breath. I need to pull out my journal and sit … Continue reading What Does Your Soul Need for Christmas? (or preparing for a contemplative holiday season with questions)
Today is filled with all sorts of heaviness--for a number of people we know and hold dear. This past month has been a heavy month for us. I know that it's always a heavy time for someone, somewhere. I often have a hard time praying with impromptu sentences these days: the kind of prayer I … Continue reading Kyrie Eleison: A prayer for heavy times
Have you tried the practice of being? This may be my favorite spiritual practice ever. Find a quiet spot, sit still, and breathe. That's all. It sounds so easy. But I am quick to forget how to do nothing. There is always something to do. Someplace to go. It is easy to fall out of … Continue reading The Practice of Being
What does it look like to live a life of Love? This is one of the most important questions that I can think of. It's a question that keeps popping up for me. Repeatedly. Most recently, I found this question nudging my heart while reading my friend Rachel Pieh Jones's book Stronger than Death: How … Continue reading Stronger than Death: book review
An ache lodges in my chest late summer. I long to drink in the blueness of the sky and treasure each cumulus cloud drifting overhead. I want to absorb all of the sunlit warmth my body can hold. I want to hold on to the cricket songs and bird melodies, the cicada's thrum. I don't … Continue reading Glory. Glory. And Gone.
