Often when people hear about the work I do at hospice—and this is true for other people on my team as well—the person says, “Oh, I don’t know how you do it. It must be so depressing.” I can understand why someone who hasn’t been part of hospice work to think that. After all, I […]
Read more "Grace for a Rough Road"I imagine that you are, like I am, still processing and trying to understand the events of the last couple of weeks in our country. Our souls were shocked to see such violence and disrespect—disregard for the well-being of people and traditions and institutions. And we are still on edge as we hear about safety […]
Read more "Remembering Prayer"Friends, this has been a heartbreaking week. As the daily death toll of COVID-19 surpassed previous records and hospitals across the country reported being overwhelmed and out of beds, we watched horror-stricken and helpless as violence, chaos, and unchecked rage boiled over in our nation’s capital, defacing one of our democracy’s most sacred places, threatening […]
Read more "The World We Want"This year I took a simplified approach to my gardening because I knew it was going to be a busy summer. I bought the plants and seeds; I drew out a plan. I got everything in the ground in mid-May, when the soil dried out enough for planting. Of the three raised garden beds I […]
Read more "A Matter of Will"I’m going to start our message today with a confession. Most weekday nights last week, as the PBS Newshour signed off the air, I found myself standing about five feet from my television, watching intently, usually in tears. My heart was deeply touched by the stories anchor Judy Woodruff tells at end of the newscast […]
Read more "What Love Will Do"The title of our message today—and the idea behind it—comes to us a courtesy of a tweet from Pope Francis. Early on Monday, he sent out a message, saying: “Let’s look at the ‘saints next door’ who, with simplicity, respond to evil with good, have the courage to love their enemies and to pray for […]
Read more "The Saints Next Door"Are you finding it a bit of a challenge to feel grateful right now? If so, you’re not alone. Daily the headlines remind us that things are continuing to worsen in our nation—the virus is spreading, the economy is struggling, people are losing their jobs across all industries, there may be a tsunami of evictions […]
Read more "Gratitude Is Your Superpower"I am sure you have noticed this: We are living through an exhausting time. The relentless cycle of news, the rancorous political climate, concerns about our environment, worry about those who struggle, who are in need, who are sick and vulnerable—it’s overwhelming. With all this as the backdrop, we are still doing our best to […]
Read more "A Heart Refreshed"Do you think of Jesus as a thankful person? It’s common for us to think of him as a wise and learned teacher, an able leader, a person who was clear about the truth and the truth of his relationship with God. We know from the Gospel stories that Jesus cared about those who struggled, […]
Read more "The Gratitude of Christ"Doesn’t it feel good to get a really good night’s sleep? You know, the kind of sleep where we wake up feeling warm, rested, and ready for a new day? Researchers have spent decades studying sleep and they can tell us all kinds of things about it—from the speed of our brain waves during different […]
Read more "Each New Day"