How To Cure An Itchy Trigger Finger
Just 140 characters and two minutes. That's all it takes to spout an opinion or start a movement. In a flurry of emotional rhetoric, we have the freedom to proclaim to the world (or whoever's watching) a point of view we may later realize was uninformed, or just plain over the top. But we do it anyway. In my mother's vernacular, some of us...
Sexual Misconduct Isn’t Just for Politicians
It's always an awkward conversation. After we've played some games, talked about what they want in a dating relationship, done a bit of role-playing, we get down to the nitty gritty. Sexual assault. Violence. Rape. Some of the students avert their eyes. Others giggle nervously. A few show concern, even ask questions. I talk to high school kids...
“Discovering Hope” Turns Chronic Illness Into Chronic Joy
Cindee Snider Re embodies these words from the author J.R.R. Tolkein: Courage is found in unlikely places I met Cindee in an unlikely place -- at a writers' workshop on the western coast of Lake Michigan. We were among a dozen writers, many of whom were still waiting on the Lord to show them how to use the gifts He'd bestowed on them. It...
Of Fish, Boats, Faith and Friendship: A Book Review
" 'Look at you! So happy! You like fishing, no?' I laugh and nod. Yes, this makes me happy, but I am here for more than this, of course. I have not tried to explain to him the fuller reason I am here, my own search. I do not tell him that I cannot know this place without being on its waters. I do not tell him that I am here to find the real...
Catholic at Heart: Surprised by the Faith That Formed Me
I did a double-take. Five grown men in long brown robes with bald heads, beards blowing in the breeze, were jogging barefoot down the sidewalk. I slowed my car and caught their happy faces in my rear-view mirror. This was not a sight I was used to seeing in the middle of the afternoon in this rural community. I called my sister-in-law, who...
Nashville: Making Culture in Community
Where we are -- the place where we are breathing, working, loving and living -- that place, that community, forms us, even in the midst of trial and change. One of my adult sons was making a new life far from home a few years back, wrestling with change and trying to get a handle on the future. I was able to drop in on his life for a few days...
Wasting Time ‘Tilting at Windmills’
"Tilting at windmills." This phrase came to mind as my husband I walked among the windmills at a local outdoor museum on Father's Day. I had no idea where I'd heard it before, so of course, later in the day, I googled it. The "tilting" refers to jousting. The phrase originated in the novel Don Quixote, written by Spanish author Miguel de...
Story Matters: Sharing a Family Story at “Breathe”
When a girl grows up casting her Daddy as the hero in every story, it’s natural that one day she will tell his story. My father’s story is far from a fairy tale. The years immediately after my mother left our family must have been rough for my father as he took on the task of raising three little girls, ages 3, 2 and 1.......read more about...
Tending the Garden: Pour and Listen
The dry spell was broken over the weekend and finally my outdoor plants received a showering that did not come from my watering can. Everything is lush and green this morning, and for that I am grateful. I have more than one watering can, but only the galvanized metal one gives the nice steady flow that ensures my plants get a good watering....
For All the Unknown Soldiers in Our Lives
(The photo above was taken at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Rose Hill Cemetery, Albion, Indiana.) In the small town where I grew up, summer always began with Memorial Day. I remember waiting with prideful anticipation to catch site of the American Legion Color Guard, knowing I'd see my Dad in the line of uniform-clad men, dressed in his Air...
