Category: Uncategorized
-
Courage to Stand
A really bad thing happened on Friday up here in Utah. BYU was playing against Duke in a Women’s Volleyball tournament in Provo when a fan began shouting racial epithets at an African American Duke player. We don’t have a ton of details, but we know that the taunting continued throughout the match. A relative…
-
Viva La Difference
It has been a long time since I posted anything. At first I used the excuse of life getting hectic: a trip to Cleveland, a young man moving into my spare room, a trip to Europe, Covid – twice, a new very energetic puppy who refuses to be house trained, a dental emergency and recovery,…
-
Give Me Jesus
Many years ago Ben and I sang a wonderful African American gospel song in the choir where we met. The first verse goes: In the morning when I riseIn the morning when I riseIn the morning when I riseGive me Jesus. Give me JesusGive me JesusYou may have all this worldGive me Jesus I’ve been…
-
When the Going Gets Tough…
This past week I was able to spend time with my daughter in Cleveland, Ohio. It was a wonderful week! One thing that we appreciated, and that was so heartwarming, was seeing the support for the embattled and besieged nation of Ukraine. The Terminal Tower building was lit in blue and gold, billboards proclaimed solidarity…
-
Love Your Enemies – Lessons from War
Like many of you, I have been monitoring the events happening afar away in Ukraine. I have a friend whose family has been forced to flee and has become refugees. I’ve watched the unfolding story of bombings and invading troops with horror. I’ve watched the incredible patriotism and determination of the invaded as those troops…
-
The Incredible Power of Words
How many of you watched the Olympics the past two weeks? Raise your hands (just kidding). Don’t worry if you didn’t, for there were sufficient reasons to boycott and I assuaged my guilt by minimizing my viewing to mostly just the figure skating, and even then only bits of that. One of the most beautiful…
-
With Malice Toward None
Today’s blogpost comes right between two holidays: yesterday was Lincoln’s birthday and tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. I was trying to decide which day to focus on when it occurred to me that the two holidays actually work so perfectly together! One of the saddest things I have witnessed during the past few years, and has…
-
Free to Fly
I’ve been thinking about butterflies this week. I think just about everyone knows that I love these beautiful creatures and envy their ability to bring joy as they flit across their world during their short lives. I could sit and watch them forever. The thing with butterflies, however, is that they didn’t start out as…
-
Recipe for Living a Full Life
This past week I participated in an interesting conversation. A friend pointed out to me that studies show that the greatest inhibitor to successful aging was not diet or exercise or any other factor other than… aging. We had a good laugh about this! Then this friend pointed out another study, done by James F.…
-
Each Life That Touches Ours for God
Today someone I really admired passed away. I had never met them in person, but nonetheless they had a big impact on my life and my life outlook. I had spoken with them through DMs a few times, but never more than that. We were going to meet up, but then Covid came along and…
-
Onward, Christian Soldiers
Today at church we sang an old favorite hymn, Onward, Christian Soldiers. I’ve always loved this hymn. It fires up my blood and makes me desire to march fearlessly toward all foes standing between me and my eternal reward waiting just beyond those beautiful pearly gates. I know that for many the hymn conjures up…
-
Learning from the Village
This evening I watched a video that really touched me. The great Sidney Poitier, during an interview with Leslie Stahl in 2013, talked about the man who taught him to read (starts at about 4:30 in the video). Poitier was a young adult who wanted to act but couldn’t really read. He’d just had a…
-
12 Pipers Piping and Other Things in Order
This week I was driving down the road with my Christmas playlist serving as background music to my thoughts. I wasn’t really paying that much attention to the music when all of a sudden something just seemed off. I listened closely and sure enough, it seemed that Penatonix was messing up the order of The…
-
Of Christmas Gifts & Partridges in Pear Trees
Christmas is, of course, a time for gifts. The ultimate gift initially from God to us and now from us to others. Obligatory gifts aren’t fun, but the gifts from the heart are wonderful representations of that first Christmas. Sometimes the hardest role at this time of year is that of gracious receiver. Getting what…
-
O Little Town of Bethlehem
One of my very favorite Christmas carols is O Little Town of Bethlehem. Written by Episcopalian minister Phillip Brooks in 1868, it was prompted by a journey he had taken to Bethlehem a few years earlier. I admit, I’m jealous of anyone who has had an opportunity to visit that sacred place, and even more…
-
Now Thank We All Our God
Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t love it above all others. I don’t fully know why, either. It was such a favorite that I convinced Ben to get married on Thanksgiving weekend and for 22 years thereafter the holiday had extra reasons to be celebrated. This…
-
Time to Turn Down the Temperature
I was in the middle of writing a post about St. Cecilia Day – a feast day honoring the patron saint of music – when the horrifying news from Waukesha, Wisconsin began breaking. News of someone driving an SUV through a family-oriented community Christmas parade causing mass casualties is such a horrific tragedy that writing…
-
Lessons from Flanders Field
In Flanders fields the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on row,That mark our place; and in the skyThe larks, still bravely singing, flyScarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,Loved and were loved, and now we lie,In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with…
-
For All the Saints
Today is Halloween – the much-loved holiday of ghosts and goblins and other mischievous supernatural beings. What may have begun in the realms of deeply held superstitions has evolved to a time of masquerade and candies. In much of the Christian world, however, it is tomorrow – and the following day – that have the…
-
Being Enticed to Change
This week I had a super fun opportunity: Elizabeth’s vacuum had quit working and I had the extreme fun of trying to fix it. Remember, I’m not particularly mechanically minded, but I was determined. I looked and everything seemed fine at first glance. I tried the old suction-on-the-arm test and the suction seemed just fine,…
Look to God and Live... Joyfully! 