The most inspiring words I’ve heard in the past several years are from a speech Ursula LeGuin delivered toward the end of her life. She said: “I think hard times are coming, when we will be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now, and can see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies, to other ways of being. And even imagine some real grounds for hope. We will need writers who can... Read more
If you have yet to dip your toes into Succession, the HBO series that ended in 2023 (subsequently sweeping the Emmy nominations), now might be a good time to watch. Currently, the Rupert Murdoch family who the series was purportedly based on is acting out an all-too-real succession battle of its own—a battle that could impact all of us due to the reach and influence of Murdoch’s media empire (including Fox News). I have to admit, I wasn’t an instant... Read more
{Meditation on John 6:24-35}. Imagine that someone you love is terminally ill, needing healing, and you hear that a great teacher has come to a town near you, someone who also has a reputation for healing. So you pack the car with everything you and your family will need for the afternoon, and head out to where this person will be speaking. But when you arrive, you see that thousands of other people had the same idea. You patiently wait... Read more
In a guestroom, I have a little wooden plaque that says, “Just live your little life.” I like this admonition. I also need it. Most of us do have little lives. Not unimportant or trivial lives, but lives that don’t rock the world. There are the powerful, influential people who usher in movements or manage large organizations or invent cures or other inventions. There are even the select few who are well-known as creatives or politicians or businesspersons. Then there... Read more
I’ve long appreciated Yuval Noah Harari’s book Sapiens(2014). And I recently enjoyed a discussion of his newer book Unstoppable Us, How Humans Took Over the World, on a favorite podcast ‘The Gray Area with Sean Illing.’ Harari makes some similar assertions in these books, namely that humans have transcended other species because—of all things—we were able to pass on great stories. Sacred stories. Shared stories. Basically, we prevail because we spin a good yarn; and a good yarn builds cohesion, allowing... Read more
{A meditation on Mark 6:1-13} Jesus was a small-town guy. His village of Nazareth had a population of just a few hundred people. And I want to give a sense distance as we think about the stories in the gospels. Because most of Jesus’ ministry and teaching took place around the Sea of Galilee; and the distance from the Sea of Galilee to Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth was roughly 30 miles. These were tiny communities, in which everyone likely knew... Read more
The hay now rises to shoulder-height and I walk a path around the field mowed by our John Deere. To my right and to my left, hay—stout and emerald green—sways listlessly, gracefully. If I sat down, no one would find me. In this age, it feels as if everyone is talking; and increasingly, I am weary of the chatter. Increasingly, I don’t want to be found. Social media renders each of us CEO of our private media organizations and we’re... Read more
I’m part of a tradition that uses the lectionary, and this coming Sunday, one of our readings is about Jesus in a boat in a storm; a passage very familiar for some. Jesus and his disciples pass across a lake when a storm arises and the boat becomes overwhelmed. Naturally, the disciples are afraid for their lives, but Jesus sleeps blissfully in the stern. They are incredulous. “Don’t you even care about us?!” they ask him. But he calmly commands... Read more
Transformation beats moralism. But as a young adult, effort was my mantra. And effort, coupled with an adolescent zest to save the world, was perilous. In my early 20s, I stumbled my way through so many “good deeds,” it is painful to look back. The time I began buying food for a physically challenged, low-income woman and her teenaged daughter, then was unable to continue after one month, despite creating an impression of commitment. They welcomed me into their tiny... Read more
It is there as I do the things I love—from drinking my morning latte to nuzzling my cats to chatting with my husband, walking a path through tall grass, creating and working and falling asleep at the end of the day. It is present in every moment in between. When one is dealing with anxiety, it can be omnipresent and distracting, stealing one’s attention from the things that make life feel worthwhile and beautiful. Anxiety is like having a switch... Read more
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