Our Weekly Devotionals are created by our staff and members to inspire reflections and conversation.
Stereotypes
We had our garage sale a few weeks ago, and it went well. We live in a cul-de-sac, so we could watch the cars drive in, people get out and casually saunter over to our tables full of stuff. The one I completely failed to anticipate was the elderly gentleman who bought my mom’s entire doll collection.
The Door
“Sometimes when you push open one door, you find another door.”
That’s something a friend said to me recently. It was meant in a positive way – about the discovery of the unexpected. About pushing into new territory, imagining what you will find there. And then, instead of what you expected – you discover a whole new world of possibility.
We Choose to Go to the Moon
Religion's purpose is to inspire. We believe because it offers us comfort and clarity in a confusing and cacophonous world. So, when religious language and sentiment are used beyond the scope of religion, that use is often powerful. Last weekend, while I was in Central Florida, I paid a visit to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) - the preeminent spaceport here in the United States.
Beautiful Gifts
“Hey Kel, I need your help with something…”
So begins a text message that suddenly spikes my heart rate.
His texts were usually like that – frantic, urgent, and apocalyptic. He sends me articles from The Atlantic that are 46 pages long about everything from politics to polar bears. My brother’s moments in his life have always been characterized by that – intensity.
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.