When your pain gets bad, or you’re on the verge of a panic attack – when the tide of your day shifts from normal to nasty, what do you do? There are spiritual disciplines, of course, that we could talk about. I can bring to mind the things I know […]
What’s your prayer for the Ukraine? How about for Russians who object to what their leader is doing? Have you been praying about the pandemic, or the Canadian trucker convoy, or other world events? What do you say, when you pray? What images fill your mind? Do you feel hopeful […]
Last night was difficult. Do you have those nights? You’re supposed to be sleeping, and you kind of are, but each time you wake, instead of rolling into warm sheets and falling back into dreams, you catalogue the scary indicators that suggest there’s trouble ahead. For me these are hard-to-describe […]
There are beautiful, perfect people and there are flawed specimens of humanity. That’s okay. Don’t try to soften the blow – I know which group I belong to. How about you? I’m guessing you’re in group B too, and I’m glad – you and me can stick together. When I […]
Breaking from my usual end-of-the-week posting pattern, I thought I’d share with you, today, memories of a personal Valentine’s Day disaster and lessons learned from said disaster. We’d been married less than a year and ranting, for days, about the perils of unfettered capitalism in general and, more specifically, the […]
Heaven. What does the word mean to you? When I was five, colourful jungle gyms and sweets were my idea of eternal bliss. Since then, I’ve heard heaven described as a place of hope, with talk about fruit trees and rivers, thrones and light. In spite of scriptural promises, I’ve […]
What is the thing you are most afraid of? Do you mentally spin endless versions of a scary future – slow, sad reels about a world not quite right, or maybe horribly wrong? Where are you in these projections? Off to the side, crying? Alone? Unloved? Hurt? If you were […]
Years ago I thought giving security items to my new baby was a bad idea. They offered only temporary comfort, and eventually that teddy bear or pacifier would have to be pried from the reluctant clasp of my little girl, who’d grown too old for such things. One year, on […]
In three days my family can gobble up a small jar of kimchi. The jar costs $8.99 – too much for a cabbage based side dish that we burn through so quickly. My first taste of kimchi was at a Korean restaurant; the novelty of a complementary side dish […]
I felt stronger when I was younger. Struggle was less constant. Some people say our worst moments – our bad days – prove that there is no God, or at least that He does not care and cannot be good. It’s a natural response to suffering, I think – questioning […]