making sense of life in the details
“In all honesty, I have to say she was sent to me by the Holy Spirit.” My friend, Bob, was talking to me about the incredible care he’s receiving in hospice, and specifically the care he’s receiving from his CNA, Paulette. Paulette came here from Jamaica 33 years ago, raised five children, and worked hard... Continue Reading →
I was walking in one of my favorite places just now when I saw this wooden chapel birdhouse. It’s not the first time I’ve noticed it. In fact, I’ve taken hundreds of pictures of it over the years, in every time and season. Sometimes the leaves are green and full as they are today. Sometimes... Continue Reading →
I am astounded by phlox. You know, the tiny little perennial flower that pops up in bright pink, purple, and white this time of year on hillsides and rock walls. We planted a couple of small bits on our patio around some larger planters four or five years ago and each year it comes back... Continue Reading →
I’m a Catholic and my heart is broken, again. An audio recording of a meeting between Catholic bishops and President Trump reveals a modern-day exchange of silver. Catholic school funding + defense of the pro-life cause = political support and Catholic votes. Never mind this administration’s horrific, bungling, and careless late response to the pandemic,... Continue Reading →
I’m having a hard time today. I found I didn’t want to get out of bed and face another day filled with the same stresses, fears, and challenges we’ve been facing for weeks. I’ve been working hard to find the positive, and as a person of faith, to find the resurrection part of all this... Continue Reading →
It’s Good Friday, and in this coronavirus time, we’re not gathering in our churches for the Stations of the Cross or for the services we’re used to. We’re not venerating the Cross or singing the solemn songs together. It may be harder for Christians to enter into the Story than it’s been in Holy Weeks... Continue Reading →
I remember one morning from a few years ago. It was very early, before the sun was even up, and I was driving my high school daughter to a waiting bus for her Washington DC class trip. I hugged her and watched the bus pull away, and on the way home, saw the sun was... Continue Reading →
For the past several years on New Year’s Eve, our sweet hosts have pulled out a sheet of cardboard on which everyone writes their goals for the year ahead in permanent sharpie. One year I wrote that I would find our dog, Bailey, and I did. Another year I wrote that I would run a... Continue Reading →
Jochebed knew her baby boy was in danger, as were all of the firstborn sons of Israel. She hid Moses as long as she could and then, with no options remaining, prepared a basket, coated it in tar and pitch, and placed the child in it to float among the reeds along the bank of... Continue Reading →
After their Teacher and friend was brutally murdered, along with all their hopes, they did the only thing they knew to do. The disciples of Jesus went back to their lives, back to their work, back to their fishing boat. We can only imagine the desolation they felt as they prepared the nets and set... Continue Reading →
