Category: Midweek Reflection

I was asked to write a blog about what keeps me going. My first reaction was, “I have no idea.” I sat down and did a map of all my roles: wife, mom, teacher, crafter, citizen, friend, accountant, mathematician… I could list more but those are off the top of my head. After listing each…

I do not know what my face looks like. I do not know what my face looks like without looking in a mirror. And even then, what I see is a flipped image of myself. I cannot see my true form even with a mirror. I cannot see myself as I truly am. I need…

About a year and a half ago, at the suggestion of a wise friend, I began a joy journal. It is a place for me to list each day one or more things that brought me joy. It is a way for me to pay closer attention, to notice the bits of joy already present…

According to my faith: I have done the best that I know. It is not the best that could be done.  It may not be my best ever.  Given the need at hand, the circumstances now, the level of knowledge I possess, and the energy available I have done the best that I know. I…

Mercy. I used to think about the kind of mercy that is when one gets a lesser punishment than one deserves. The kind of mercy I’ve been thinking about recently is different. It has nothing to do with deserving or not deserving. It is about the lessening of suffering or distress. The longest day of…

Hands off! Stop! Cease and desist! Be still! Be still and know that I am God. 1 Be still – from the Hebrew root raphah – meaning: to let down the hand (as in stop doing, be lazy) leave off (a work that’s been started) let (any thing) go 2 Stop. Preposterous! God says to…

Put on gentleness. Put on gentleness like a good pair of boots. Wear the gentleness that is right for you. When it fits properly, it embraces and does not smother you, allowing space for you to find your natural balance. Let gentleness be first for your own sake. Let it be a buffer against potential…

Holy transition. The structure of my days is completely different than it was a month ago. Where I go, who I interact with, the activities I am involved in, have shifted. My days look very different. I talked about this the other week with my spiritual director. She asked me how I was experiencing God…

Death interrupts us. This is what death does. Unafraid to break into our lives, it comes, not when we expect it; it comes when it is ready. And that time may or may not be when we are ready. And yet. Death is a holy interruption. It is holy because it changes our lives and…