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Closure – Maybe not what you want

Closure – Maybe not what you want
Words are important.  Words are symbols that are arranged in a certain order - but these string of symbols can carry great significance.  Words can be neutral or packed with negative or positive connotations which are greatly affected by the context in which they are used AND heard.  It is helpful to remember that communication is…
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Grief is …

Grief is …
Grief is messy. Grief is ugly. Grief is complex. Grief is painful. Grief is life-altering. Grief is a human experience - we all experience loss in a multiplicity of ways throughout our lives.  Some of these losses can be relatively minor, while others can prove to be cataclysmic, disruptive and painful. We are each unique, our…
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A Bridge or a Treadmill?

A Bridge or a Treadmill?
Okay, I admit it!  I like retro cartoons - cartoons from my youth.  I like the characters, the zany plots, the animation and the music.  I guess somewhere deep inside me is a 10-year-old boy whose happiest times were watching the likes of Bugs Bunny, the Flintstones, and Scooby Doo.  The other day I caught a…
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Games we play to Avoid Dealing with Emotional Pain

Games we play to Avoid Dealing with Emotional Pain
I’m a little Tea Pot... when I get all steamed -up hear me shout!  A familiar nursery rhyme but what an interesting allegory when we are talking about heart-wounds, stress and emotional pain.  Picture yourself as a tea-pot (or kettle). Add some water, some heat, and when water boils, steam (energy) is released through the…
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Loving our Enemies doesn’t mean denying our Anger

Loving our Enemies doesn’t mean denying our Anger
I’m so excited to see many of my friends actively engaging in trying to live lives of love.  It continues to be a personal mission of mine to encourage and inspire people to love well.  Learning to live loved and live love is a truly transforming way to impact ourselves, homes, cities, and the world.…
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Raising Light

Raising Light
Krista Tippett in her book Becoming Wise was interviewing Rachel Naomi Remen.  Remen shared a story that her Grandfather used to tell her when she was a child.   This Jewish story is particularly lovely as it speaks to the value of  Tikkun olam, or translated, the restoration of the world. In my ear, it sounds so very…
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Giving up Chronic Outrage for Lent

Giving up Chronic Outrage for Lent
I’m giving up chronic outrage for Lent. I'm exhausted dumping my energy into being chronically outraged because there is an endless supply of situations to be outraged about. I just can’t do it anymore. I am finding that chronic outrage doesn't make way for us to do anything about the issue other than joining in…
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Trash Talk with Scripture

Trash Talk with Scripture
In my quiet time this morning I was reading a piece of scripture for the New Testament. I found myself lingering around Jesus’ temptation in the desert in Matthew 4. 5Then the Slanderer carries him off into the Holy City, and stood him upon the pinnacle of the Temple, 6And says to him, “If you…
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Navigating the Christmas Rush

Navigating the Christmas Rush
Christmas day is fast approaching and many people are in a full-on lather of activity; shopping for gifts for our friends and family, attending Christmas social events, Church events, and Children's Christmas activities and concerts.  Not to mention scrambling to get things tied-up at work before the Christmas break! This is just par for the…
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Lament

Lament
There was a tradition in a segment of Psalms referred to as the lament psalms. It was the pouring out of one's grief with all its ugliness to God. It was often in response to great loss, death, war, captivity and often gave voice to great despair and anger. In all the rawness that could…
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