The other day, my boys were discussing world peace, an unusually weighty topic for the two of them. "I wish there were no wars," my 6-year-old lamented. "Yeah, me too," the 9-year-old added. "Why do people have to fight?" "You know, we could start by start practicing world peace at home." I suggested. The boys rolled … Continue reading Practicing Peace
Image from The Gift of Writing According to Thomas Merton, a vocation, like writing, is a gift we are given in order to give it back. He says, In religious terms, this is simply a matter of accepting life, and everything in life as a gift, and clinging to none of it, as far as … Continue reading Why Do You Write?
“Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it." --Brene Brown Do you ever stop to look at your life and ask, "How did I get here?" Sometimes, a small moment or conversation sets you on a course that changes everything. Sometimes these small moments require … Continue reading It All Started When I Owned My Doubt
For the last few years, a chalk-board sign above my kitchen sink reminded me to "Love people. Cook them tasty food." (Thank you Penzey's.) Unfortunately, my idea of tasty food differs drastically from my family's idea of tasty food. The idea of loving people by making them tasty food only made me cranky: I am … Continue reading May the Light of Your Soul Bless Your Work
I burned a pot of rice the other day. The rice smelled like cigarettes. The pan took about an hour and a whole lot of Bar Keeper's Friend to clean. (Bar Keeper's Friend is a good friend of mine.) Burning food is one of my wake-up calls--a pretty obvious sign that I need to start paying … Continue reading Distractible Me
The best questions--the kind of questions that can change your life--aren't meant to be answered right away.
How much undoing do we have left, God? It seems like we have undone a lot, and I am itching to do something. But there is always more. Another layer that needs to go. My expectations for myself. You would like those? These are hard to release. The disappointment I feel because these expectations of mine don't match … Continue reading Undoing: A Prayer
"Don't start looking in the Bible for the answers it gives. Start by listening for the questions it asks. . ." --Frederick Buechner Sometimes a story catches your heart with its truth--a truth that is piercing and happening even thousands of years after the story was first told. Like the story of that earnest young man (the Bible … Continue reading Asking “What do You Belong to?” and Other Life-or-Death Questions
Sometimes I get excited about really small things. Like seeds. Especially these seeds. These are seeds that I saved from a tomato that grew in my garden last summer. The fall before, I drove out to Milwaukee to visit my Opa in hospice. During that visit, in one of our last conversations, my Opa told me … Continue reading A Gentle Reminder
"You don't have to wait for the End. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all. Do you believe this?" ~ John 11:25-26 (MSG) I am, right now, Resurrection … Continue reading A Resurrection Story
Jessica Sanborn 