On this 3rd Sunday of Lent, we looked at the Spiritual Discipline of Fasting. A member shared her experiences with fasting, after giving a bit of background to the practice. She did a great job, and I was so grateful that we could all hear her perspective. She used a few pictures too, which enhanced … [Read more...] about Fasting: A Lenten Practice
Honor: a Memorial Service at Arlington Cemetery
Sometimes I'm amazed and honored at the places ministry takes me. Yesterday I co-officiated at a memorial service at Arlington National Cemetery, a service complete with full military honors for a Navy Captain who was the father of one of my parishioners. Arlington Cemetery holds a special place in … [Read more...] about Honor: a Memorial Service at Arlington Cemetery
The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest 2009
I submitted my novel TAKE WING to the Amazon Breakthrough Novel contest. ?This was the second annual, although I totally missed the first one. ?I understand there were 10 finalists last year and 4 got book deals. ?One of the blogs I subscribe to mentioned this contest and I only had 2 days to get … [Read more...] about The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest 2009
Using Visuals in Church: Stained Glass of the Day
You know you've had a successful vacation when you're honestly glad to be back at work. I felt very fortunate to step into the pulpit today and say Welcome to worship. I'm really paying attention to how I use images in church, so let me record what I did. Lately I'm working with the idea of an … [Read more...] about Using Visuals in Church: Stained Glass of the Day
Winter Beach: Sharks Teeth
We're beach people. ?Winter beach people, that is. A day off from the pulpit sent us to a different venue for worship. Yesterday was an ideal beach day. ?The waterscape was a hundred shades of blue, and the Bay's surface was smooth linoleum, like a hospital hallway right after the buffing machine … [Read more...] about Winter Beach: Sharks Teeth
The Light Is Honeyed
A pantoum is a form poem where the second and fourth lines of each stanza become the first and third lines of the next stanza, creating an interlock that puzzles me. ?I wrote this on the eve of my 51st birthday, remembering Thanksgiving Day when we took a family nap. The light is honeyed, sparked … [Read more...] about The Light Is Honeyed
How to Pick up Chicks: a Technique from a Married Man
My husband has taken up sketching. ?He likes to go to art museums with his pencils and paper. He has realized that this is also a great way to pick up chicks. ?It is: intriguing, non-threatening, and makes you look smarter than you are. ?In other words, it has all the necessary components for being … [Read more...] about How to Pick up Chicks: a Technique from a Married Man
Still: Life Is Sacred, post-Thanksgiving Thoughts
Sometime after Thanksgiving dinner, tired from eating and laughing, we all drifted into tryptophan-spiked naps. ?One daughter was warm on my left side, the other pillowed on my right, with Doug stretched out at our feet. Imagine your lapcat and multiply by a factor of seven, or maybe seven and … [Read more...] about Still: Life Is Sacred, post-Thanksgiving Thoughts
Farming on Thanksgiving Day
I know you're anxious to hear which table game we played after Thanksgiving dinner. ?We were all debating the possibilities when Hannah jumped out of her chair and ran downstairs to fetch?The Farming Game. This is a game we haven't played in at least six years, maybe not since we moved to Virginia … [Read more...] about Farming on Thanksgiving Day
Four of My Favorite Guys
My husband and I played tourist today, visiting "Lincoln's Summer Cottage" in northwest DC. ?This is actually a lovely home on the grounds of the Soldiers' Rest, a site about 3 miles north of the White House. It has been privately restored, and is available for guided tour, about an hour in length. … [Read more...] about Four of My Favorite Guys
Shopping at Macy’s and Talking to Strangers
Stranger #1: I was at Macy's, and while my husband comparison-priced knives, I went through the clearance rack of pajamas. ?(I am perpetually on a quest for cheap, perfect pajamas, probably because, as a writer, I sometimes spend all morning in them.) ?A woman on the other side of the rack held … [Read more...] about Shopping at Macy’s and Talking to Strangers
Years in the Making: a Life Accumulation
I suppose these thoughts are a consequence of aging, although people don't talk about them much. I'm looking at my own life, and the lives of other people, and wondering: Did we realize THIS was what we were creating all those years? ?THIS life, the one we're living right now? As Mary Oliver calls … [Read more...] about Years in the Making: a Life Accumulation