Happy Saint Valentine’s Week! Why limit ourselves to a day? Why not a lifetime? Want more joy in your life? More happiness? More love? Then decide today, you are going to be a person who gives. Be a gracious and generous Martha. Love and resentment cannot grow in the same heart, one will overpower and destroy the other. If you are counting how many times your spouse does things that help you out, you need to stop counting. Love... Read more
Today I went to confession. I talked with a friend and my husband made dinner. It was a good day, but not without reminding me all along the way, that the path to salvation for all of us, involves accompanyment with the other –whoseover the other is. We tend to forget that even just asking for others to pray can lighten our own hearts’ burden. It’s why the mass has petitions. So I sat there thinking about the hard reality,... Read more
I tried to watch the Grammies, but they didn’t pull me in, not with the songs or the dance or the spectacle. I recognized the art, I love a lot of the artists. Thanks to some of my adult children, I’ve learned how to dance to “Hot to Go,” and laughed at the tongue in cheek lyrics of Sabrina Carpenter, and I’ve enjoyed my fair share of Lady Gaga and Beyonce over the years. But the show didn’t pull me... Read more
Many who heard the speech given by our former and present President, felt ill at ease with his sweeping indifference to the worries voiced by the Episcopal Bishop, asking for mercy. Ill at ease is too polite, too soft. People feel angry, upset, and disturbed that someone and his followers would froth at the mouth uttering mockeries and slander and smugness that a person of faith speaks the words of Jesus. I am not Episcopal, but I stand with her. ... Read more
If you follow Christ, you will suffer, but you will suffer joyfully. Not happily mind you, but with a full heart, knowing that your pains, your tears, your agonies, your injuries, your fears, all of it, is united in Christ on the way to, or on the cross. You will know rejection, whether before you are born, or on route to the place of your birth, or after your birth, as a babe, as a child, and as an adult.... Read more
Ten thousand steps, Duo Lingo, did I read, did I study, did I write? Did I do ten push ups? Did I try to do ten sit ups? Routine helps but when I run up to the end of it, I am left with the grief again. It keeps showing up like an unwelcome guest. Why is it hard to think? Where is my energy? What’s for dinner? My brain hopscotches from thought to thought, feeling to feeling, until it... Read more
10) I stink at Dulingo, so don’t ask me anything in spanish. 9) I am reading a book, it’s slow going. 8) I did submit a piece to two places this week. 7) Exercised several days. 6) Studied some for National Board. 5) went to adoration. 4) Wrote several personal essays, of which two I submitted. 3) Sent a letter, reached out to a friend. 2) Visited with my brothers and sister. 1) I am studying for the Praxis on... Read more
So President Elect Trump wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. As an American, I feel I must apologize. So here goes: I’m sorry Mexico, the Goof of America is busy illustrating how big the gulf is between his understanding of the world and the rest of the known world. However investigators here at Chocolate for Your Brain scoured the District of Columbia to find out what other name changes are under consideration. These are mere... Read more
Over the years, I’ve made resolutions. They include the usuals like losing weight, reading books, and praying more. Some years, I succeeded, other years I failed within a day. Writing wise, I’ve written goals like getting published once a week, writing a book, and being part of the book festival –all of which I’ve made –but also had years where I didn’t. The challenges of resolutions indicate to me that experience of success is no guarantee of success, (writing goals)... Read more
Woodcut by Christian Rohlfs of 1910 The three kings brought gold, frankincense and myrrh. They also brought their faith, their desire to find the king for whom the star in the heavens shone, and their willingness to journey. They sought the Christ. That’s all that is required if we want to be in relation with Him. He already wants that with us. What do we bring? Do we bring Christ our prayers? It gives Him the opportunity to hear our... Read more
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