(Almost a) Snow day

It’s an odd habit of mind, that in an expanse of day like this one I decide that nothing has happened. Perhaps it’s because, since it’s Reading Week, this is my third day with wide swaths of unclaimed time. What actually happened: Finished some research/shopping that I’ve had at the top of my list since […]

Five creams, two sugars

One: the air smells cold tonight. I forget that cold has a particular scent, living here in central Texas. Two: The guest on tonight’s podcast-for-the-commute made a comment like: “Group therapy was super useful when I was completely disconnected from my feelings. I could help others figure out their feelings, because I’m helpful. And I […]

I got it, I got it… I don’t got it

I keep thinking that Real Grownups ™ can’t be allergic to weather fronts. And then I have another day like today, where there is no reason, no matter how much I rummage around, for feeling like I’m under a steamroller and that the only appropriate thing to do is sleep it off. So: Cold Front […]

I’ll roll away mine

Roll Away Your Stone Roll away your stone, I’ll roll away mine Together we can see what we will find Don’t leave me alone at this time For I am afraid of what I will discover inside ‘Cause you told me that I would find a hole Within the fragile substance of my soul And […]

Who’s on first?

As I was preparing to head out to this lunch, the thought flitted through my mind: What if she gets there first and has to wait? Then, immediately, I thought: Well, what if she does? Somebody has to get there first and wait, at least a moment or two. It might as well be her […]

deck the halls / clear the decks

We had a chocolate pudding pie for Thanksgiving. Not because anyone’s heart beats for chocolate pudding pie. Because I was standing between My Sweetie and the pantry as he limbered up to make his usual Thanksgiving baked goods—pumpkin and key lime pies—and I noticed that there was a storebought graham-cracker crust next to the allium […]

while I looked around

In my Monday-morning class, our final lesson had us riffing on an image included in our workbook—a pyramid built out of one-dollar bills. Kind of like the ones to the right, yes. Given that we’ve been reading the book of Exodus, which begins with the Israelites all living in ancient Egypt, my group felt the […]

Present time

In American mainline denomination life, we recently wrapped up “stewardship season.” My congregation held it a little later than normal this year—it’s usually October-ish—for a handful of reasons particular to us, but we still held it (celebrated it? can Americans say that?), tossing our pledge cards into the baskets on the floor as usual. It […]

Pop-rocks of delight

Tuesday morning, My Sweetie woke me with a video clip… …of Baby C, walking like a champ on his very 11-month birthday. (People who walk early have Places to GO, so I’m adding extra prayers for D&B!) Wednesday morning, my B arrived, happy and tart-tongued, ready for a proper breakfast. In the small hours, while […]

On suffering

A pastor friend, now deceased, once gave me this clipping from a local newspaper from the 1950s. I can find no source for it, but I believe it is helpful in making sense of suffering. Suffering is not God’s desire for us, but it occurs in the process of life. Suffering is not given to […]