Friends make the world go ’round and all that . . . being as I once was a middle school girl myself it has taken some years, some pain and some investment to find out that it’s true—life is really much richer with a few good friends. Which is all well and good when you are single and have complete control over the people with whom you spend your time. The task of finding and maintaining life-enriching relationships, you see,... Read more
Alas, I am aware that I am not Marcus Borg, but in my small way I try to be like him. A little. Marcus (as I like to call him) recently wrote a book with John Dominic Crossan called The Last Week, a detailed account of Jesus’ last week before the crucifixion. (It’s very good, by the way.) In Marcus’ honor this blog entry is entitled The Last Day, and it is not about Jesus at all . . .... Read more
Centerpiece of the town of Ripon, Wisconsin . . . birthplace of the Republican Party.Condemned. Read more
I had occasion to spend the whole day with my children last week–the first time this summer. It’s rather late in the summer to be marking my very first whole day home with the kids this year, but Montgomery County, Maryland keeps the kids in school until mid-June and there is this beautiful thing called sleep away camp, to which all three of my children went the first week out of school. There are so many things to be thankful... Read more
This litany we’ll use as our Call to Worship July 2. I always think hard about how to connect faith and citizenship, especially in this city. These words were such strong declarations of truth, and truth-telling, as we know in our individual and communal lives, is absolutely essential for freedom. Savor them a little more than just a few seconds on Sunday morning:As we gather for worship on a day celebrating the freedom of our country and our faith, we... Read more
Who would have thought that the first person in our family to undergo cosmetic surgery would be Mark? (Not really anyone who has ever met us, I am thinking . . . ). This past week was highlighted by the drama of Mark’s Lasik eye surgery. He’s worn glasses for long over 20 years and, he says, his softball career has suffered as a result. He can’t see things all that clearly with his glasses, and taking them off to... Read more
Referencing Wednesday’s post: if you care, here are the answers to Mark’s super difficult 8-year old treasure hunt. How many did you get? OVEN (Apparently you are supposed to look at the first letter of each line? Go figure.) The bar that holds the shower curtain in the kids’ bathroom. Underneath the big tub of dog food . . . . SWING SET FORT With the parents, of course. Who else would be the source of all wisdom? Read more
Mark and I are often bored, with hours and hours of free time on our hands and nothing, just nothing, to fill them. Perhaps this delusional thought was what spurred us to plan a treasure hunt birthday party for our newly-minted 8 year old. Either that or we were trying to come up with something . . . anything . . . to rival best friend Max’s Star Wars birthday party a few weeks ago. At any rate, all of... Read more
I was talking with a friend today who was telling me about her family’s recent decision to become guardians of a 16 year old boy. The boy is the son, you see, of this friend’s adopted daughter’s birth mother (got it?). They decided to become his guardians after discovering that this young man was no longer attending school but staying home to take care of his very ill mother instead. My friends invited Jamal to come live with them so... Read more
In general there are excessive books in our house. This being the end of the school year, there are even more than usual lying around. This has resulted in more than the normal amount of clutter but, as usual, some moments of utter inspiration. Yesterday I happened upon one of my little offspring engrossed in a book and I asked him what he was reading. Looking up he answered, “This is some story. It’s a story that almost made me... Read more
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