I’ve tried to write to the sound of music, but it doesn’t usually work well for me. I create better in silence, although there really isn’t such a thing. I know this because when I’m silent I hear stuff. Stuff like: the pit-pit-pit-pitta-pit-pit-pit of ice melting from the eaves the song of the chicka-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee the distant whoosh […]
Still Saturday: The Beauty of Thy Peace
Dear Lord and Father of mankind, forgive our foolish ways; reclothe us in our rightful mind, in purer lives thy service find, in deeper reverence, praise. In simple trust like theirs who heard beside the Syrian sea the gracious calling of the Lord, let us, like them, without a word rise up and follow […]
Exhale Frozen Breath
The psychodogs take less than two minutes to relieve themselves before they beg to come back in. It’s still dark when I step outside. I catch my breath and imagine ice crystals forming around my lungs. I try to guess the temperature as the garage door creaks upward in protest. I slip my jacket sleeves over […]
What If? (A Glass Slipper Sonnet)
And now for something a little more light-hearted. Do you get a poem in your inbox from Everyday Poems each weekday morning? You should. It’s only 5.99 for an annual subscription, and whether you write poetry or not, it’s good for what ails you. Or what doesn’t ail you. It’s just plain good for you. […]
On Poetry, Cracking and Other Stuff
I’m a bit breathless and cracked, broken and wrecked. And yet full, complete, repaired. Re-paired with renewed passion but still trying to find my balance after the last three months. In November, I made my now annual trek to my other home in a Texas canyon–Laity Lodge for a High Calling retreat. Then there was Thanksgiving at […]
Still Saturday: Leave Room for God
“As servants of God, we must learn to make room for Him–to give God ‘elbow room.’ We plan and figure and predict that this or that will happen, but forget to make room for God to come in as He chooses . . . Do not look for God to come in […]
Still Saturday: How to be More Compassionate
“Silent solitude makes true speech possible and personal. If I am not in touch with my own belovedness, then I cannot touch the sacredness of others. Experience has taught me that I connect best with others when I connect with the core of myself. When I allow God to liberate me from unhealthy dependence […]
Please Forgive Me
Dearest Nduta, Have you ever heard of the Dominican Republic? It’s a country that shares an island with the country of Haiti just south of the United States in the Caribbean Sea. Compassion invited me to go there last week on one of their trips and write some stories about what I saw. I […]
Still Saturday: Let It Be
Lord, it is night. The night is for stillness. Let us be still in God’s presence. It is night after a long day. What has been done has been done. What has not been done has not been done. Let it be. ~New Zealand Prayer Book, Night Prayer In the stillness, Sandy Welcome to […]
What Happens When Sponsor Meets Child
I woke up yesterday after only two hours of sleep. I’d been up until 5 a.m. trying to find words to tell you about Tuesday… about hanging out with the sweet moms and babes who are served by Compassion’s Child Survival Program, about sharing a meal with them, about winding our way across roughly paved streets and uneven, disintegrating […]
