We have been waiting, my husband and I, with a dear friend who was dying. Waiting with his wife and friends. Waiting through the four years since his diagnosis; first the waiting for treatment and news; then the waiting for a worn-out body to respond. The waiting for diagnosis, prognosis, verdict, decision. It saps the strength, rendering one limp with the suppressed emotions and repressed fears of watching and waiting in a cloud of unknowing.
Read MoreIn South Africa, their philosophy of community, is far different from ours in America - in fact, diametrically opposed to America’s independent me. Their community philosophy is known as ubuntu, a Zulu phrase that translates roughly to “I am who I am because we are who we are.”
Read MoreThis week, we look at holy expectation from a different angle - for something as wondrous and amazing as the miraculous in our lives is not as easily gotten as learning a 2 or 3 step formula. If there’s nothing else we come away with after our discussion of holy expectation is that there is no formula, no 3 step-program to success, no sure-fire method to getting your miracle, getting your breakthrough. If that’s what you’re looking for, you won’t find it here; and I can promise you - you won't find it anywhere. That’s not how God works.
Read MoreI’m afraid we are a people who don’t expect miracles. Miracles are considered rare occurrences reserved only for the very devout, the deeply religious, or even perhaps - for those naive enough, or superstitious enough to think that there is any “super power” out there willing and able bring about a miracle. Of course, that presupposes that one believes in a “super power”, or that if the “super power” exists, He or She would even care enough to intervene.
Read MoreAnd so, this week is simply an honest sharing over a cup of tea at the kitchen table that this writer is running low on words - at least this week. And that’s not a “bad” thing in and of itself. It is simply part of the creative process that ebbs and flows. I’m sure my own concerns over social and political issues; about family and friends and dear ones who are struggling with all manner of challenges hasn’t helped to nurture my creative energies. After all, our minds and hearts have great capacity to love and care, but they’re not without limit.
Read MoreThese are days of global anxiety, of pandemic, of political upheaval, of loud polemics touching upon long held core values affecting everything from how we worship to the air we breathe. It’s hard to trumpet peace and love in a time when we cannot hear ourselves think, hard at times, even, to breathe in - or out.
Read MoreI’m not sure how the tradition of making New Year’s resolutions evolved, but it’s never sat well with me. I’ve tried to do the “resolution” thing, but my disappointment in not being able to sustain my grand efforts almost always resulted in disillusionment and frustration. Better not to make them, I resolved. It’s one resolution I’ve kept.
Read MoreOur world today doesn’t hold much hope in its hands. We are too busy: too busy planning and buying and working and playing; too busy with FaceBook and Instagram and TikTok and movies and games. We don’t hold hope in our hands because there’s no room left there for hope. Hope has been replaced with anger and despair and exhaustion. And with no hope, there is no place to look to, no place to go. We are like refugees at the fence, wanting to have what’s on the other side, but somehow - feeling it is completely out of our reach. The cherished desires of our heart are no longer anticipated. And we find ourselves languishing without hope.
Read MoreIntentionally choosing to give thanks - even when things are not going our way - is the truest path to feeling grateful. We’ve all heard the saying “gratitude is an attitude”, and I think it’s true. We only come into the realm of truly feeling grateful when we intentionally voice our thanks for whatever comes our way. To illustrate, let me tell you a story of one of my own Thanksgiving pasts.
Read MoreWhat is it about family and holiday traditions that create such expectations in us - such a frenzy to be perfect and happy - no matter what? Why do we create this fairy tale of expectations that stress us out, break the bank, and cause such angst?
Read MoreThere is no doubt that tolerance falls far short of our call to love one another; to love neighbor and self as we love God, to love all neighbors - not just the ones we choose to love. When seen in that harsh light, racial tolerance is a very low bar.
Read MoreTo write about friendship is like trying to grasp a handful of clouds. It sounds simple enough, but the devil is in the detail of the trying, of the grasping - and the failing. We all think we know what friendship is - until it is examined, held, gazed upon - and then we realize that this thing we call friendship is wide and broad, deep and full, rich and complex. More than we can imagine. It is mysterious, ethereal, and oh! So necessary.
Read MoreEach person who makes their way into the sphere of our lives has impact, leaving an impression that may be fleeting - but an impression nonetheless. The depth and color of that impression for each person is felt and known in the memories they leave behind— in the amount of light-space they have claimed as their own in your heart. It’s that heart-space that is held close, that demands the memories of their lives be expressed, voiced, sung aloud to the heavens in declaration that this person’s life had meaning, worth, value; that his or her life was one of caring and joy and love.
Read MoreThere is a deep renewal of the soul that happens when we are immersed in the earth’s beauty - whether from thousands of feet above Waimea Canyon, from a catamaran that speeds along the ocean waves escorted by playful dolphins, or from simply sitting on a volcanic rock, millions of years old, watching a monk seal sunbathe on the sand, or listening to that eons-old siren song of wave and surf and wind
Read MoreWe teach the “how” and “when” of prayer; and we may teach the history and rules and structure of prayer, but rarely do we get into the deep and true heart of the matter: the deep heart-passion of communicating with a loving God Who loves to listen. Where is the passion? That ferocious passion of the lover seeking The Lover? That all-in, falling-into-love that should be the hallmark of speaking to our Divine Creator and Lover of our soul?
Read MoreMany of us grew up thinking that the world is good or bad; blessed or cursed; beautiful or ugly; a binary world that given enough time, we would be able to figure out if we simply had the right formula, the right college degree, the right philosophy, the right religion. It would all make sense if we followed the rules. That if we went to the right church, or temple, or synagogue or mosque as required, we would somehow make sense of this world, of the pain. That if we were “good”, God would protect, care for, provide for. If we were “good”, then we were safe. A “good God” does that, right?
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