Sometimes I come across a new poem in an old book of favorites and it beams forth, saying, this one, now. I love how this form and language of this blessing from John O’Donohue mirror the essence of the ideas he’s conveying – heavy at first, then sad, then quiet, and then, at last, lighter. […]
I was unpacking a box this week and found my calendar planner from early 2020. As you might guess, leafing through it was bittersweet. The college reunion that did not occur, the family vacation that turned into separate stay-cations, the weddings that were delayed, the conferences that were swapped to zooms… for a little while […]
I met a new friend this year – a big slab of walnut that I call Fred. The tree-form of Fred had fallen a few years back, and some terrific craftspeople transformed the trunk into what will soon be a desk in my new home. Fred has whooshes and whirlpools and waves all throughout the […]
I used to live in the oldest part of the city, which was full of charm and uneven brick walkways and a maze of one-way streets. One day I went down to the basement and instead of landing on the floor, I landed in a puddle. After a lot of investigation we found a […]
Be not afraid. I sometimes describe my Divinity School degree as a master’s degree in fear. Faith can be a hand in need, a comfort in sorrow, a light in the darkness. And one of the most repeated phrases in the Bible is “noli timere” – be not afraid.* Friends, there is a lot […]
I woke to a drizzly morning, misty and still. As the sun struggled to come through the clouds, a little breeze stirred the tree branches, and whoosh! A thousand leaves fell. A few minutes later I glanced out the window again, and with the next puff of air, woahhhh! A murmuration went flying through the […]
Sometimes a theme arises so powerfully it cannot be ignored. This week, a sharp unexpected storm knocked out the power and the cell tower and the internet. A deep discussion with a dear colleague revealed a problem that ran deeper than any project or analysis could reach. Even my favorite escapist podcast featured an astro-miner […]
Every week, it seems that a good summary could be, “wow.” Our normal descriptors are all falling short. I have been wishing that the English language was a little more like German, with helpful compound words like kummerspeck (gaining weight from comfort eating – literally, “grief bacon”) and weltschmerz (pain that the world does not […]
These past months of separation, my family has sometimes hosted virtual movie nights, where we watch the same film from our different locations and text our comments back and forth. It is not as good as piling on the sofa together, but it’s still pretty fun. Last night we watched Miracle, the film about the 1980 […]
A new season is arriving. I can tell because my favorite flannel shirt has emerged from the closet, the sunrise is too late to serve as an alarm clock, and the garden has gone from green to gold. This week I was observing the sunflowers, as they fade from glory into a deeper beauty. Some […]