Praying at a public event has challenges. People might have other beliefs or no faith tradition at all. I consider this when I open meetings with prayer at our Florida retirement park. When prayer respects differences, most people appreciate it. Resurrection mysteries This month Christians celebrate Easter, and every Sunday is a celebration of Easter….
Sister Julia Walsh’s memoir opens with her feeling intense pain and tasting blood. She describes falling from a cliff near her childhood home and sustaining life-threatening injuries. In this broken state, she cries out: God, help me. At the time of this fall, Walsh was 25-years-old and fresh into her training period as a Franciscan…
Back in the days of Gestetner machines and electric typewriters, I literally cranked out the bulletin for our small-town church. Many announcements, especially those on the weekly calendar, were punctuated by the letters DV. As a new Christian, I had no idea what that meant. The pastor kindly pointed me to James 4. We shouldn’t…
Can there be resurrection /
among the ruins? /
Dare we imagine new life /
rising from these streets of death?
Muckraking is a game. There are operatives, opponents and reporters everywhere looking for dirt, and there is much to be found. I watched the show “Scandal” for entertainment, and scandal is a common story theme. “Oh, what tangled webs we weave, when first we practice to deceive” (as Sir Walter Scott said, not Shakespeare). Far…
The philosophy exam question was, simply, “Why?” Many students pondered long and wrote much, but one student aced the exam quickly with the answer, “Because.” Why is a profound human question; is because a sufficient answer? The Gospel of Mark ends with the Greek word gar. “Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled…
“So. Heidi. What gives you joy?” My new friend’s question wasn’t meant to be deep or probing, just a cordial segue into light conversation. Still, I had to think a minute before answering. “My grandkids,” I began. “Motorcycles. Dogs. The outdoors. Writing.” I thought more about it the next day. What brings me joy? It’s…
When we are young, we don’t bother to think much about our eventual demise, assuming that a good half century or more stretches before us, if God is willing. During my own youth, I was more likely to worry about what I would fill those future years with so as not to waste the gifts…
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