In Praise of Redbuds in the Rain

March 8, 2024 In Praise of Redbuds in the Rain Rain swirls in silver currents in the cul-de-sacthe wind pounding to be let inas it directs winter’s last bare hickoryand oak trees in a frenzieddance across a stage of gray.Sunshine is a myth buried behindswollen roiling banks of cloudson this late winter morning.Yet outside theContinueContinue reading “In Praise of Redbuds in the Rain”

Lenten Day Seventeen: Lectio 365 and Poem

March 1, 2024 “The desire to be like someone else is an impossible task, and not from God.” From the prayer app, Lectio 365. Lectio 365 is one of two prayer apps that I use and recommend to others. The other is Pray as You Go. Both apps come out of Great Britain, so theContinueContinue reading “Lenten Day Seventeen: Lectio 365 and Poem”

Lenten Day Fifteen: Persian Proverb

February 28, 2024 “This too shall pass.”  Persian proverb On this 15th day of Lent, I remember my mother.  Whenever I found myself in moments of illness, disappointment, frustration, discomfort, or worry, she would say, “This too shall pass.”  I don’t think she ever said, “I’m sorry, that must be tough,” or even, “Get overContinueContinue reading “Lenten Day Fifteen: Persian Proverb”

Lenten Day Thirteen: Mary Oliver

February 26, 2024 It is a serious thing just to be aliveon this fresh morningin the broken world. ~ Mary Oliver On this thirteen day of Lent, I stop to ponder why these particular lines from Mary Oliver’s poem, “Invitation,” touched me so much that I jotted them down and stuck them on my mirror. ContinueContinue reading “Lenten Day Thirteen: Mary Oliver”

Lenten Sabbath Two: A Poem

February 25, 2024 On this second Sunday of Lent, I turn once again from meditating on a daily quotation to rest in the quiet of Sabbath with this poem. Dawn Prayer Let my prayer be the geesewhose honking risesin raucous praise;let it be the black-capped chickadee,chitting in the bare limbs of the hickory,the pin-points ofContinueContinue reading “Lenten Sabbath Two: A Poem”

First Lenten Sabbath: Wendell Berry

February 18, 2024 During the Lenten Season, before Easter Sunday, “regular” Sundays, like today, are not included in the 40-day count of preparation because they are considered “mini resurrections.” So, instead of sharing a meditation on one of the many quotations I have procured this past year, I will share a poem that matches theContinueContinue reading “First Lenten Sabbath: Wendell Berry”

From Pelagius to David Bowie

Feb 12, 2024 Note: Second attempt to email this post. “Write down with your own hand on paper what God has written with his hand on the human heart.”  Pelagius For Christmas this past year, I gave my daughter a stack of notecards, each one inscribed with a quotation that had drifted across my path fromContinueContinue reading “From Pelagius to David Bowie”

From Pelagius to David Bowie

February 11, 2024 “Write down with your own hand on paper what God has written with his hand on the human heart.”  Pelagius For Christmas this past year, I gave my daughter a stack of notecards, each one inscribed with a quotation that had drifted across my path from the Universe and had gifted me. ContinueContinue reading “From Pelagius to David Bowie”

Reverie ~

December 26, 2023: The Second Day of Christmas ReverieThe tree stands bare in the spillof white candlelightthat beckons remembrance,the still air laden with pungent pine.I unwrap memorieslifted from silk-worn boxes,and passing years emerge,reflecting faces mirroredin each round and shiny ball. A piece of crumpled tissue dropsand here is the rocking horsesuspended on a crimson stringthat markedContinueContinue reading “Reverie ~”

The Longest Night

December 21, 2023 To all those, everywhere, who are experiencing a “longest night” this holy-day season, hold fast to the promise that “the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it” (John 1:5). And a poem to remind each other we are not along, but together, we can share our light: CandleContinueContinue reading “The Longest Night”