An invigorated group of retreatants gathered at the Mary and Joseph Retreat Center. And I am very grateful to have absorbed a weekend’s worth of nourishing energy. Our topic? “What your heart would Love to say: lessons I learned on…
TUESDAY JULY 22 -- This week, we find hope in the human world of helping.And I told the story of anthropologist Eleanor Leacock, who spent a lot of time with the Cree Indians of northern Canada. She went on a…
Always try to leave people better than you found them.Hug the hurt. Kiss the broken. Befriend the lost. Love the lonely.I want to live in that kind of world.But this is my confession: some days (well, too many days), I…
TUESDAY JULY 15 -- Whatever it is, the light of compassion brings people out of hiding, out of unease and out of fear. The light that invites courage and renewal and resilience. And that, well, that is light worth spilling.…
It was one of those very large family reunions, where you likely don't recognize half the people, and spend a good deal of your time trying to avoid the pugnacious uncle whose name you've tried to forget. In the midst…
TUESDAY JULY 8 -- This I know: Our world is full of “curtains” and walls. Assuming somehow, walls make us safer. So, we curtain people in, and we curtain people out, both literally and spiritually. Regardless of our “intent”, it…
My heart really hurts today. Just the thought of parents searching for missing children amid mangled trees, overturned cars, and muck-filled debris.A devastated central Texas landscape from the terror and torrent of a flood. And the loss of lives—including too…
TUESDAY JULY 1 -- Grace is an "unseen sound that makes you look up." (Thank you, Anne Lamott)Or, stops you. Quite literally.And gratefully. Right where you are.A reminder of the sacrament of the present moment.Whenever I lecture about gardens (let…
Mary had grown up knowing that she was different from the other kids, and she hated it. Born with a cleft palate, Mary would hear the jokes and tolerate the stares of other children (some cruel, others, simply curious) who…
TUESDAY JUNE 24 -- A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year old grandson. The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered. The family ate together at the table. But…