Category: Spirituality
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What is home to you?
Twenty-plus years ago, I had recently moved to a new town for a job. I was newly divorced, with one child away at college and the other living with his father and stepmother. In a company-rented apartment, with my own place on the market, the only personal things with me were my cat and my…
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What About Our “Conditions?”
I use the word “conditions” so as not to say “ailments!” Likely we all have some by now. Whether it’s arthritis, high blood pressure, or fatigue, how can we best handle them? How much weight should we give to them? I have one friend who insists that her girlfriends not talk about their health problems…
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Contemplation
Decades ago during our stint in Louisville, KY, I became acquainted with Thomas Merton and the practice of contemplation. Professor Glenn Hinson introduced the concept, and I was impressed with his book, A Serious Call to a Contemplative Lifestyle. I still remember that Dr. Hinson walked to and from work every day, one hour each…
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When Your Grown Child Is Hurting
I don’t know about you but feeling my child’s pain – whether he or she is 26 or 46 – is the worst. I’d rather step in front of a hurtling train. Many times during my son’s long illness, I would have done anything to trade places with him. I had lived my life. Even…
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Around the Next Bend
I wrote the first post for this blog a year ago on turning a big -0. I knew not what to expect. More happened than I could have ever imagined. This time last year I was still (always?) grieving my son’s death but looking forward to a trip to Louisvile with my daughter for my…
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What do you fear?
Maybe we don’t talk about them much, but I bet we all have fears. Being scammed, identity theft, serious illness, the state our world. Fear flourishes better in the dark, where it likes to hide. Acronyms come to mind: False Evidence Appearing Real; Face Everything And Recover. One of my earliest fears was of the…
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What is addiction?
Addiction is a prevalent topic in our world these days. It usually refers to substances – drugs or alcohol (alcoholism). We know that Fentanyl overdoses outnumbered deaths from COVID-19 in 2020-21. Yet addiction can be about almost anything: food, exercise, shopping, money, religious practice. My favorite definition is that addiction is anything that takes you…
Our Aging Selves 