Dick grew up as an only child of an older couple. His parents were not bad people, but neither of them knew a thing about raising children. They both came from abusive families and never intended to have a child, both fearful about the possibility of repeating their own childhood. Once they found had a …
This is the time of year when thoughts turn to gifts: giving and receiving. Most of us in the parts of the world where Christianity and/or Judaism have a presence are busy thinking about what we can buy (or, less often, make) as gifts for a list that might range from only one or two …
In light of the events of the past week (month, year, decade, century), I find myself trying to balance between a self-protective human instinct and a deeply held higher value. It is, perhaps, natural to barricade ourselves and our children in the safest place we can find, close our eyes, put our fingers in our …
Some people (the Dalai Lama comes to mind) seem to go through this temporal existence instantly aware of each lesson that comes to them. Others of us stumble around for decades wondering why we keep bumping into the same sharp objects in the dark until we finally awaken to the possibility that it might be …
When we lived in western Massachusetts, I had not only an enormous flower garden in the front yard, but a vegetable garden about a mile away from the house in some of the richest farm land in the world. January and February were magical months when the seed catalogues arrived by the bushel, filled with …
Two days ago, I opened the pantry cupboard in our kitchen and broke into a cold sweat. This may not seem a normal response, but just after Easter next April, my husband and I will leave Denver for his sabbatical – three months of sabbath rest and renewal followed by a month of vacation. Our …
…and speaking of trust, what do we do with disappointment? There was a stage in my life when I maintained two huge gardens: a flower garden outside the parsonage which was our home in western Massachusetts, and a vegetable garden a mile away in an area offered to residents of the town by a local …
A wise mentor once gently informed my (highly anxious) younger self that ministry is a lot like the parable of the sower and the seed in scripture. She reminded me that I can scatter seeds with wild abandon, but I should not expect to be any more successful than Farmer G-d. Some seeds will grow …