It’s been awhile since I posted about Benedictine hospitality and my hope of understanding what it means to live a life of genuine openness to others. I’ve been reading a book called Radical Hospitality: Benedict’s Way of Love, which has some good things to say despite its unfortunate quality of writing (which makes sifting the good stuff out of it a little challenging). Yesterday, however, I came across a chapter that has been resonating with me. The chapter is titled “Companionship … [Read more...]
Hello Robert Frost
April 28, 2010 By 1 Comment
I've picked "Hyla Brook" as our poem for now through May. I have to admit I don't know much about Robert Frost. I've never really studied his work in any other capacity besides reading him in some college overview of American poets. I also tend to really hate "The Road Not Taken" for the fact that it seems to be the only poem that Southern Baptist preachers know or use in sermons. (What's the deal with that? Is it some prerequisite in seminary?) But, friends, it's time for me to read and … [Read more...]
Thankful Tuesday Q’s
April 27, 2010 By 15 Comments
It's Thankful Tuesday and it's raining. My boy slept longer today but 6:30 still doesn't cut it for me so today I'm avoiding deep, contemplative thoughts about my thankfulness. Instead, I really really really want to know about yours. I'm serious. That means you have to leave a comment, people. So, here are my questions for this Thankful day. 1. What one thing from this past weekend are you are most thankful for? 2. What book are you reading right now that you're most loving? 3. What book … [Read more...]
How the words fall in.
April 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment
A disciple asks the Rabbi, “Why does the Torah tell us to ‘place these words upon your hearts’? Why does it not tell us to place these holy words in our hearts?” The Rabbi answers, ‘It is because as we are, our hearts are closed, and we cannot place the holy words in our hearts. So we place them on top of our hearts. And there they stay until one day the heart breaks and words fall in.” (from The Politics of the Brokenhearted, by Parker Palmer) Let me start by saying I haven’t read … [Read more...]
Tree Roots
April 22, 2010 By 5 Comments
If you had asked me ten years ago which of my brothers would be running a ministry for impoverished kids in Amarillo and living out an inspiring life of faith, I would not have picked Brooks. He's always been a cut up. He’s a charmer. A ham. And his serious side is hidden under about eight layers of sarcasm. I could write a very long piece about the process of his emotional and spiritual transformation, how he went from being your average business suit to risking his family’s entire … [Read more...]
Natalie Merchant = Thankful
April 20, 2010 By 3 Comments
Since I’m imagining most of you spent your high school and/or college careers in the nineties, I’m hoping that a Natalie Merchant song was at some point part of your coming of age soundtrack. For me: 10000 Maniacs’ “Because the Night” needed to be sung with an elaborate car dance that my college roommate Jamie and I made up and performed in transit anytime either of us was in need of a pick me up. Anything from Tigerlily, which was my high school … [Read more...]
Friday Night: Sleep and Dream
April 19, 2010 By 3 Comments
This past Friday night, I found myself in the midst of a second fear-filled sleep for the toddler who must imagine terrible slime monsters on the walls of my parents’ basement, where the crib is stationed. (It sounds worse than it is, by the way. The basement in my parents’ house is finished with its shelves covered in my mother’s bright, happy Pez collection. Though I guess a multitude of Pez dispensers could be extra freaky to a 22 month old.) I was half asleep, carrying the boy back to … [Read more...]
Pied Beauty: The Grouch Reflects
April 15, 2010 By 3 Comments
I’ve been wanting to share a little about our current Hopkins poem: why I love it, what it’s been meaning to me, what I hope you’re getting out of pouring it into those crinkly recesses of your brain. But I have to admit, I’m tired and off schedule (it’s never easy for me to write when I’m not at home in normal life…and right now I’m visiting family), and feeling a bit sheepish because I’m the worst mom in the church nursery and received a second “sign up to volunteer or … [Read more...]
Joy: Lasting, Satisfying
April 14, 2010 By 1 Comment
There’s something so comforting about sitting in my “bedroom,” the one I grew up in, with its ridiculous amount of childhood stuffed animals still lining shelves and its hot pink and yellow mural my brother painted for my 17th birthday forever quoting John Keats: “More happy love! More happy, happy love!” I’m home. August and I spent the day flying to Texas and we will spend the next ten days lazing in the comfort of it all. For the past week, I’ve been daydreaming about the smell … [Read more...]
Gratefully
April 13, 2010 By 8 Comments
It's Thankful Tuesday. Last night I left my child in the care of a new friend and joined my husband in a home full of acquaintances, drawn by our common love for teenagers. We were there to hear from an older couple who are legends in the ministry I worked for (professionally and as a volunteer) for the past eight years. Bob and Claudia spoke about their lives helping establish Young Life in the fifties, loving kids, and watching miraculous things happen to broken young people. As we mingled … [Read more...]
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