I’m pretty adept at coming up with a positive take on circumstances, meeting the turns and twists of life with optimism and hope. (At least enough optimism and hope, most days, to keep myself going.) I believe that the Universe…
“A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with freedom.”— Bob Dylan I’ve been going to yoga again, once or twice a week. [Hot yoga, which is something I swore I’d never repeat after a brutal experience about…
I’ve been enjoying an etymology podcast lately: Words Unravelled, with Rob Watts and Jess Zafarris. He’s British and she’s American, and they both have a wonderful knowledge and love of language. Usually they start with a broad topic — e.g.…
“The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and then thinking that having problems is a problem.”- Theodore Isaac Rubin We’ve all got problems, plenty of them. Personal stuff, shared stuff, global stuff… Significant stuff,…
I looked up the origin of the phrase “true blue.” Some people believe that it refers to the endless blue sky above us, the blue yonder. Others suggest that it might have had something to do with the purity of…
We were setting up for Sunday service a couple of weeks ago, with the usual bustle of preparation — sweeping, brewing coffee, unfolding chairs, stuffing songbooks, setting the lights and music. My friend Bryn was arranging materials on the information…
A few weeks ago, I was scheduled to meet a new patient, a lady with advanced dementia who lives in a memory-care facility. I called her daughter beforehand to see if she was able to be there for this introduction,…
Thomas Merton wrote, “Those who are not thankful soon begin to complain of everything.” What I love about this is that he takes thankfulness for granted. He assumes it. Which is such a hopeful expectation for human being: thanksgiving as…
On one of the social media platforms, a woman posted: “One time my dog found a discarded chicken sandwich in a hedge while we were on our morning walk. So every day since, for the past 10 years, we have…
I don’t use the word “hallow” much. Practically never. I might change that. I’m familiar with the idea of hallowed ground, of course, but I can’t remember ever describing anyplace as such. And I know the phrase “Hallowed be Thy…