The Christmas Story. Yes, it’s a familiar tale that fills us with a bit of sentimentality and a kind of romantic sensibility. We think of the silent night, the angelic choirs, and the star that led the magi. But when we pay close attention to the details of the story,… Read More »Christmas: Hope in Hardship
Advent: the season of waiting has begun. Over the four weeks leading to Christmas, the tradition for Christians is to wait, to prepare, and to anticipate the coming of Christ. Even amid the commercialization of Christmas, our spiritual practice is to pause, be still, and experience quiet as we wait.… Read More »Advent: The Waiting Begins
Most people don’t recognize it, but many of us live with the effects of trauma. Trauma disrupts our lives and our sense of normalcy. Today, I’m discussing both the prevalence of trauma and how spiritual practice can help to bring us to greater healing after traumatic events.
What gives you hope? Can you be hopeful when difficult, overwhelming life events occur? How can we nurture hope in our lives? What are the connections among hope, spirituality, and daily life? Join me to explore these questions.
How can things go so badly? I suspect most people have asked a question like that during 2020. There are the pandemic and the cascade of problems that have come with it like economic hardship, unemployment, disruption of education from pre-K through university life, businesses closing offices with people now… Read More »The Christmas Story and 2020
I stumbled out of bed one morning this week and into the bathroom a bit after 7:00 AM. It occurred to me that it seemed unusually dark. I somehow hadn’t noticed that sunrise is coming later and our days are growing shorter. As I looked outside, I saw that the… Read More »Seasons of Change
I talk to my friend every few weeks. We met over twenty years ago when we lived in the same city. Now we live at opposite ends of the country, so our contact is mostly by phone and email. Every few weeks, we have a long conversation in which we… Read More »Finding Hope
It’s difficult not to be discouraged. There’s no way to escape it. The problems of the world are huge. It seems like many people are hell-bent to make them worse. In the US, the pandemic is out of control and political corruption is at an all-time high. These serious concerns… Read More »Discouraging Times: Can We Say All Will Be Well?
