After an uneventful flight – except for the peculiar, but now familiar, experience of being folded like strange origami figurines in order to fit in coach seats for nine hours – we arrived in London right on time. It always takes a week or so to get used to new signage (as in, what a …
One of the most beloved books of my middle-school years was Our Hearts Were Young and Gay, written by Cornelia Otis Skinner and Emily Kimborough about the hilarious (at least in retrospect) trip they made to Europe following their graduation from Bryn Mawr in 1920. Which, if you have never read it, is still quite …
In the Christian church, Lent began on Ash Wednesday (February 18). Although penitence and penance (words most of us have come to hate without really understanding what they mean) have long been associated with Lent, it would be less emotionally laden to describe this season as one of intentional metanoia: a season about turning toward …
High Holy Days open conversations in paradoxical ways. Sometimes dialogue around the extended family table seems anything but. Often it is a rote repetition of past years, little more than familiar monologues competing for airspace. A neutral observer might wonder if there had been an intervening year, or growth, or change, or world (national, community, …
The end of September marks the beginning of my personal new year. November 1 began Samhain, the first season of the new year in the ancient calendar. But January 1 is the beginning of the year in the Gregorian calendar by which most of us mark time in our secular world. It is a time …
About two years after my husband and I began our co-ministry in western Massachusetts, I decided to put a small garden out in front of the Parsonage in which we lived. What I had not realized was how big the front yard was, and the garden I envisioned (and originally planted) looked like someone …
Lying fallow is a good time to notice the things around us that are coming to the end of their natural cycles (everything from patterns of behavior to leggy houseplants to the elastic in our underwear). Other seasons are so filled with activity – both inner and outer – that the quiet events or tired …
Backstory, Part 1: On Sunday, the minister invited us to think of the difference between ‘God-shaped’ as an adjective and ‘God-shaped’ as a verb. This is a differentiation well worth pursuing. Backstory, Part 2: I was absolutely enchanted the first time I saw a word cloud and discovered how they work; they can unfold the …
Reminder: This is the last week to get an entry in the Lughnasadh Give-Away. This has been the easiest give-away ever since I don’t have a single entry for the drawing! Send the blog information to a friend. If he or she clicks through to read the whole blog, you could win a set of …
If you remember, I am starting to prepare for the sabbatical that starts next spring, so I am making “maybe” lists of things to do (or not) before we leave: clearing 4 or 5 dresser drawers and half (at least) of the master bedroom closet; leaving generous space in the pantry and freezer; getting the …