It’s now past 8pm. Before 8am, I was mulling this topic… not simply for blogging purposes, but because this new term is calling for it. You’re thinking: she started grad school. That’s got some fiscal implications; makes sense she would be thinking through… well, economies, perhaps. Bringing her lunches, buying fewer new clothes, suchlike. In […]
The youngest child present who can read sings this song questioning four things different about the night of the seder from all other nights. Mah nish-ta-na ha-laylah ha-zeh mikol ha-lei-lot? mikol ha-lei lot? Ha-laylah hazeh Ha-laylah hazeh mikol ha-lei lot, mikol ha-lei lot? Why is this night of Passover different from all other nights of […]
…we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye… —1 Corinthians 15:52, misquoted because out of context I woke at not-quite-five this morning with this rippling through my head. I didn’t sleep well—or certainly didn’t fall enough back to sleep after then to feel rested when I gave up at […]
(Long day redux. At least it was a quiet evening with My Sweetie and B.) I heard Mary Chapin Carpenter singing Lucinda Williams’ song this morning: Is it too much to ask? I want a comfortable bed that won’t hurt my back Food to fill me up And warm clothes and all that stuff Shouldn’t […]
(We had to contribute a writing sample as part of today’s orientation activities. I figured I might as well share it with you, since heaven knows when I’ll have breathing room again today-!) In the course of one’s life, there are times of great joy and abundance, and times of great loss. Describe how one […]
At 8am, as I walked back into my bedroom so I could dress, I thought: I have two hours to get something written in. Maybe my small-group position paper. At 8:30am, as I fished two symphony tickets out of an envelope, fixed a cup of coffee, and wiped the kitchen counters down (!), I thought: […]
For Fred, and for Mister Rogers, this was the work of God: seeing the eternal in your neighbor, that divine presence that allows us to show mercy to our neighbor—and to receive it. […] Dr. Orr taught [Fred Rogers] that on one side of the spectrum stood the evil one, the accuser. In explaining what […]
I’ve begun hand-copying books of the Bible, three verses at a time. It’s an idiosyncratic version of something the three Peoples of the Book do—to gain intimacy with the word of God (and therefore Godself) by moving one’s arm and hand slowly through it. I’ve chosen to copy Jeremiah, because I’m working on a Jeremiah […]
Met a seminary friend for coffee and writing—and then lunch—this morning. Seeing each other was a delight; sharing our summer lives felt breezy; swapping fall-term plans felt grounding… without that too-brittle future-grasping that foretells God’s raised eyebrow and flick of a finger. Kindred spirits in dunnamany ways, she’s a year ahead of me in school […]
As I fell back asleep/awoke this morning, I caught the edges of an NPR radio article about Zimbabwe. In my sleepiness, I connected most with wistfulness: in high school, when their democracy was new, I researched them and caught the hope for something stable, a place with a larger blessing for those who live there. […]
