The messiness of spring hits me as I survey the aftermath of winter death. It also offers insight, filling me with longing for the Resurrection. My soul longs for the magic of the resurrection, but I am faced with the mystery and messiness of spring, of the birth process, instead. The photo above displays a distylium myricoides, a seldom-used but quite lovely shrub that graces my front yard. Normally, yet green leaves should be slowly falling off, gently pushed out... Read more
My survivor’s guilt ramps up a notch. I want to go somewhere, feed someone, wrap blankets around someone else, bring in firewood somewhere. All ridiculous. At my age, just walking on the snow/ice carries great risks. The Scandal of Texas Politics I have electricity, food, water, and enough heat for reasonable comfort as long as I dress in multiple layers. The dog has figured out how to pee and poo in the icy weather and unfamiliar snow. I have the... Read more
The job of those good people in this world of comforting theology is NOT to depose God’s chosen leader–or vote him out of office. God chose him. Thus he must keep his position of supremacy, no matter the damage from it. The Trump story in a nutshell. Comforting theology brings a sense of security Who are they, these decent people who still remain as true believers in Mr. Trump, insisting that he won the election and that the Jan. 6... Read more
Welcome to my life in the cancel culture swamp. The amount of energy I’ve had to expend just to get my voice heard in the tiniest of ways grieves me–white men got to use that energy to get ahead and gain more power. I was just trying to survive. I was in an email conversation with a person utterly beloved to me, who also happens to be a white male, retired from a successful career. He mentioned, because of the... Read more
Those religious people, these adherents to Trumpianity, are far more egregious violators of all that is right and holy than just the disgruntled of the nation. They have betrayed everything I have ever stood for as a woman of faith. Who am I to judge? I was out taking a walk on Monday, Dec. 14, the day the Electors of each state met to cast their vote that would seal (or unseal, depending on your hopes) the Biden presidency. I... Read more
Eight privileges, all giving me easy access to a Covid-19 test, all necessary for a successful one. Like everything else, just gaining access to a basic health need right now shows the divide between the privileged and the rest of the world. I got a COVID-19 test today. Three days ago, I started feeling unwell. Low-grade fever, muscle aches, weakness, sporadic headaches. All characteristic of minor viral infections, but . . . we now live in COVID-world, and I’m one of... Read more
It’s time we recognize the multiple lessons and blessings from Covid. From this growing national tragedy, we can actually emerge wiser and stronger if we take a hard look at ourselves and see what we can learn from these travails. Lesson and blessing one: The Redesigned Meaning of “Going to Church.” Churches may shift from being primarily building-defined, i.e., they are a physical place to go, to primarily worship and service-defined, i.e., they are a place to connect to God... Read more
Trump’s lies have hastened the deaths of approximately 266,000 people SO FAR in the US. I would not be in the least surprised to see that number double in the next three months. We are facing an unnecessary apocalypse, all because of an inability or an unwillingness to speak truth. The juxtaposition of those two headlines in the Monday, Nov 30, 2020, WSJ is quite interesting. Folks, Covid-19 cases will explode in the next few weeks–what we see now will be nothing... Read more
I found the neighborhood grocery store overwhelming–calorie-laden packages shouting from every shelf, “Buy me, eat me, get fat with me!” Piles of pre-packaged, pre-processed, sugar-stuffed food accosted me. Simply walking through it made me feel ill. Mid-August, I had to undergo a major foot reconstruction project that confined me to home for several weeks. As I began to move again, I was uncomfortably aware that the weeks of inactivity had led to enough weight gain that I needed to address it,... Read more
The temptation of Amy Coney Barrett, with deep and profound apologies to St. Matthew and St. Luke. And Amy, full of Christian charity and legal knowledge and hungry with ambition, exited the academy and was led into the halls of the highest power of the land. A papaya-toned being at her side said to her, “Just do one tiny favor for me and you will have a lifetime job and unending security.” And Amy answered the being and said, “I... Read more
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