First: Special birthday greetings to my sister who will celebrate the start of another year tomorrow… and, therefore, an acknowledgment to my mother who was in labor right around now. I thought I would take this weekend to tell you about the start of our own labor of tidying up (See: Tidying Up and To …
My guess is that the vast majority of us (if not absolutely every last one of us) would like to be free-thinkers, unswayed by specious reasoning, unhooked by emotional appeals, stalwart in the face of manipulation, not given to ‘ant mind.’ My second guess is that the vast majority of us (if not absolutely every …
I spent just over two decades as a parish minister. It was work that brought out the best in me, that forced me to ask more questions, live with more ambiguity, dive a little deeper, reach a little further, love a little more than I might otherwise have done. Those two decades were harder and …
Spoiler Alert: On Wednesday, I was feeling tender and pastoral and the blog that day reflected that. Today I am cranky and channeling one of the Hebrew prophets…so read further at your own risk. I would like to suggest in the strongest possible terms without actually resorting to profanity that any- and everyone of us …
The full moon last night was a Blue Moon (as in the phrase ‘once in a blue moon’). I have used that expression since I first heard it from my grandmother when I was a little girl and I even know what it means. It is the second full moon in a calendar month. Well, …
In advance of the Pope’s visit to the United States, several of the larger polling organizations have noted that his US approval ratings are dropping. In fact, among conservative Roman Catholics and political conservatives (two groups with a substantial overlap) the numbers are plummeting. Within minutes of being elected, it was clear that Francis was …
We are on the road again…this time from Edinburgh to London where, if all goes smoothly, we will meet friends for dinner tonight. If it doesn’t go smoothly, we will probably be sitting in traffic on the M5. Yesterday was devoted to rounding up all the things that some of you [I am not going …
In 1446, William, the last Sinclair Prince of Orkney, began building a church to be called the Collegiate Chapel of St Matthew on the lands given to him in Scotland by James I. The transepts and nave were never completed; when William died, his son put up a wall at the end of the choir …
There is a certain delicious irony in the devout Catholic former Senator who proposed an amendment (bearing his name) to the 2001 Education Funding Bill calling for the teaching of intelligent design in schools and questioning the scientific basis of evolution, suggesting that the Pope, who holds a degree in chemistry, should “leave science to …
As my traveling companion and I pass the summer solstice in these light bright northern lands, I thought I would share some more photos from our travels…a pastiche of images and memories to celebrate this turning point of the year. Longest Day was my mother’s favorite day of the year and comes right on top …