In one of my seminary classes, the readings focused on the Sacrament of Baptism and its importance to the first century Christian Church. In connection to this, I also learned about the historic creed called the Apostles’ Creed, whose roots are intrinsically tied to baptism. As those early baby Christians left their Jewish roots, or […]
Tonight I attended my first “Tenebrae” service. Tenebrae is Latin for “into the shadows.” The service is intended to recreate the emotional aspects of Christ’s betrayal, abandonment, and the agony of his crucifixion. The heart of the service takes place toward the end. A number of candles have been lit to coincide with the same […]
“You hold my eyelids open;I am so troubled that I cannot speak.I consider the days of old,the years long ago.”—Psalm 77:4-5 In fall of 2015 I embarked on an eight month journey through the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, which begins with an examination of sin. As I progressed through the weeks it felt as […]
“You hold my eyelids open;I am so troubled that I cannot speak.I consider the days of old,the years long ago.”—Psalm 77:4-5 In fall of 2015 I embarked on an eight month journey through the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, which begins with an examination of sin. As I progressed through the weeks it felt as […]
Grief is a fickle thing. For the past few weeks I have felt the fog over mind and body lifting, at least at the corners. I still have some very dark days, but the light days have been brighter and more frequent. Then the holidays arrived. A nebulous gloom began to fall once my house […]
The last couple of mornings have been in the 30s so I’ve been building a fire in the wood stove instead of cranking up the heater. There’s something very cheery about a cozy fire heating my home as dawn creeps through the windows, plus it keeps my PG&E bill down. Out of necessity, I’m getting […]
This is my first blog post since writing “Farewell to Jack, aka Lucky Girl” back in July. I have had many thoughts to share, but each time I took a step toward writing a new post my heart would not let me proceed. As I write this I wonder if I’ll have the courage to […]
I knew the first time you held my hand,walking past window displays in Naples and seeing our reflection in the glass– the difference in our ages blustered away in the sea breeze –that the spark between us was not a passing fancy. When “Longer” played on the radio, when we danced to Ann Murrayor crooned […]
“You have been saved by grace alone through faith…” (Eph 2:8). Faith in what?, some might ask. Faith in the Easter story—that Jesus died to pay the penalty for my sins, and most importantly, that He was resurrected from the dead. Those italicized words aren’t mine…in 1 Cor 15 Paul stated that if the resurrection […]
Last night in prayer, remembering the events of the last night of Jesus’ life, my mind rested on the scene at the Garden of Gethsemane. There, Jesus took three of his disciples and went off a ways from the rest of the group for a period of intimate prayer. He told his three companions, “Watch […]