Our Weekly Devotionals are created by our staff and members to inspire reflections and conversation.
Higher Ground
I’ve had the Stevie Wonder song, Higher Ground playing on repeat in the back of my mind for weeks now. The song was released in 1973, coincidentally the year Roe v. Wade became law (I was 8 years old), and its lyrics have proved to be evergreen. Depending on how you see it, the song is proof that the problems of our country and our planet are intractable and evergreen, too. After all, here we are fighting some of the same battles today as were being waged then.
Anchors
“Hello Handsome Mr. Kitty!” “Here’s your breakfast sweetie!” “Do you want to go for a walk sweet girl?”
These are the phrases that tumbled from my lips countless times over the past few weeks, as I fed, walked, and cared for my cat and my dog.
“Sometimes It’s Just The Little Things”
This week I saw something so beautiful, so simple, so unexpected, yet so profound. For weeks, my wife and I both have seen our neighbor’s lilies burst forth only to wonder when, or even if, ours might do the same. Frankly I’d begun to think it just wasn’t going to happen at all. Then it did. Just like that two gorgeous orange lilies arrived in all their fragile, temporary splendor.
Linen Napkins
A few events have converged resulting in our need to have a garage sale. Last year my parents moved from a large house into a much smaller apartment. Jonathan has been helping an elderly neighbor clean out her house. Also, I’ve been actively working on identifying any “linen napkins” we have.
Family Fabric
We finally made the trek to Connecticut to celebrate my mother’s life, almost a year and a half after she passed away. I’m not sure why our time together felt so remarkable in every way, but everyone there felt it.
Johnny Appleseed
One of the stories that's stuck with me the longest from elementary school is that of Johnny Appleseed (1774-1845), the pioneer who walked across much of the old Northwest Territory (Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois) planting apple trees everywhere he went. His path was followed, the story goes, by the American settlers heading west across the Appalachians from New England and the Mid-Atlantic states.
1.5 Mass Shootings a Day
As I read about yet another mass shooting this morning – this time in Philadelphia – I was struck by the following statistic:
“There have been at least 239 mass shootings so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. CNN and the archive define a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are shot, excluding the shooter.”
Did You Love Enough?
"Did you love enough?" If your answer is "yes", you will enter heaven, or so thinks author Paulo Coelho. I like his philosophy. Four simple words, nothing more or nothing less.
In a Mirror, Dimly
I’ll admit I shrug too much. And say I don’t know. And am quiet and unsure among people who seem confident in their knowledge. But the older I get, the fewer strong opinions I carry.
Each Day in May
Here we are well into the month of May: the month I wish would end tomorrow and the month I want to go on forever. I would love to flip the calendar so I can enjoy evenings again without lesson planning every night. I would enthusiastically “peace out” one of the most difficult years of teaching my colleagues or I have ever experienced.
One Wild and Precious Life
That Mary Oliver line, more like a Bible verse than a coffee mug cliche’, comes to mind a lot more now. In the nine months since our younger child went to college, leaving the care and feeding of only ourselves and the dog to worry about, I’ve wrestled with the question of purpose.
Transitions
May is upon us, and with it the month of graduations, Mother’s Day and abundant blossoms. Graduations in particular are salient for me. I’m approaching the end of my graduate degree, and I’ve begun to reflect on the end of this chapter and what will become the beginning of the next one.
Life Finds A Way
Life finds a way…. In the spring weeds that miraculously break through the cracks and crevices of our driveways, in newborn creatures of all shapes and sizes who instinctively grasp on to and grow into this new world they’ve entered, in those of any age fighting illness & disease who with the help of the science of medicine and dedicated health care workers sometimes unexpectedly find healing…life finds a way.
Land of Abundance
We adopted Nelson, a female terrier mix, last April. She is an intelligent, high-energy dog that needs a lot of attention. We should have done more research on the needs of terriers before adopting her.
Keeping the Ukrainian Easter Tradition
Years ago, I learned how to make Ukrainian Easter Eggs, or Pysanky, at an Orthodox church in town. The custom was born in the weeks of Lent, when eggs were not to be eaten, so they were designed with the intricate patterns Pysanky are known for.
Writing
Write, write, write, that's my job right now. And rightly so, for like any old wright I have my craft, my right and true trade. At the time of writing, I have written 17,000 words out of the 70,000 needed for my dissertation.
Fierce. Honest. Bold.
The above photo, taken by New York Times photographer Sarahbeth Maney on the first day of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings, is a powerful image that’s been shared widely on social media.
I was a stranger, and you welcomed me...
Sadly, the world's population of refugees is growing at an alarming rate. According to the UN, more than 84 million people from around the world have been forced to flee their homelands.
Lots of These Little Things
“Mom, will there be a World War III?” she asked from the back seat of the car. I had just picked up Cadence from school, and after the usual, “How was your day?” chit chat, she blindsided me with this big, heavy question. Normally, when I’m given a big, heavy question, I can say with certainty that we’ll be ok, and that the big, bad event is too far off, too far away, or too unrealistic to worry about.
Wilderness
First of all, how many people would voluntarily wander around in the desert for forty days? I can’t seem to get to church for an hour each Sunday. Or remember to check the tread on my tires. Or find a Saturday to meet Sofia halfway for lunch. Forty days? No one has forty days anymore.