Confession: I am still in my LL Bean flannel pajamas in front of a roaring fire. It is well past morning. I am thinking about a concept called "idleness aversion." Idleness aversion is something the German sociologist Max Weber called "one of the core ingredients of the modern soul." Oliver Burkeman defines it as "not […]

So much of life is spent trying to gain acceptance from others - our parents, friends, colleagues, children, even strangers. We all want to be seen, known, and accepted, flaws and all. Too often, acceptance feels elusive. And so we try to achieve it. We fit ourselves into molds that will gain acceptance from one […]

Last Saturday morning dawned like most other Saturday mornings. Loose plans, weary bodies, much that needed our attention. "What do you want today to hold?" I asked my husband. He didn't seem very interested in the question. Distracted, caught up in his own thoughts. "I just have so much to do," he said. "Like what?" […]

What to write, what to write, what to write? When those in charge of our nation's Department of WAR (!!) use snarling, violent words? And speak about bombs, destruction and bloodshed while praying for God's providence over acts of death? What to write, what to write, what to write? When those in power use hard-to-understand, […]

God, grant me the kind of faith that grieves as much for Iranian school girls crushed at their desks as for brave American soldiers. The kind of faith that weeps as much for Palestinian children buried in rubble as for Israeli worshippers killed at worship. The kind of faith that pleads as much for wisdom […]

I have been dormant for a season. Overwork, a new puppy, attending to family needs. I have gone quiet. And in the quiet, I have been pondering this season of life in which I find myself. I turn to Richard Rohr and his book "Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life." Rohr […]