Thanksgiving Day, 2014 Dear Dad, This year is the very first year that I remember not avoiding your phone call. Every year of the past forty I have avoided what most consider a mundane task; and admit that I did this in several not-terribly-clever ways. All of which I was reasonably certain you could see right through, as you had the unfortunate hypervigilance of an individual with the brain wiring of a coyote. Always alert. Always defensive. Paranoid. Added to […]
EMPTY house. Empty bed. Morning shadows peeking in from closed curtains as if to see if he had made a decision regarding his own fate yet. IT felt almost certainly that it was a one-sided relationship he’d been experiencing these last few years. Most men might not have noticed; however, he was intuitively keen-sensed and more in touch with feelings than he was able to show overtly. There was some kind of unspoken agreement that he didn’t ever remember […]
If you are wondering whether my musical friend, Dave Matthews, has taken me up on my offer to collaborate on some of his well written and inspiring musical pieces, I would say exuberantly that he has! However, what you may not be aware of, is that there are approximately 1,748 men in our United States listed by the name of “David Matthews”. So, yes, I have made contact with one “David Matthews”, however, I haven’t yet […]
Of the Seven Deadly Sins she felt she had a starring role in at least five. The first of the seven, ironically enough, she knew all too well. Lust. It was never about love, it was about desire to her. She’d tried on the love hat too many times. It was always satisfying initially, then grew old and difficult to maintain. It was generally much more work than she was prepared to invest in another human being. […]
Don’t close your eyes. This is your life: Are you who you want to be? This is your life: Is it everything you dreamed that it would be? When the world was younger and you had everything to lose. Switchfoot It had a hard-hitting beat. I used to run with it blaring loudly into my earbuds. It has always been one of those songs that has pushed me to think deeply while charging through my pain even harder than I’d […]
Her tattoo read “just be held” in black lowercase typewriter-key font. It was perhaps one of the most impulsive decisions she’d made for the time commitment it required of her body. She treated herself to those particular three words on a warm day in July when she felt like she was coming completely undone. Casting Crowns new release,Thrive, had premiered on Pandora. In a moment of utter despair their song, “Just Be Held” spoke to her. It cut […]
She looked up at me, tears streaming down both sides of her face. All I could see were her beautifully lilac-tinted eyes full of water. It must be the way her tears had accentuated the blueness that she’d been born with, I thought sensibly I don’t remember them being quite that distinctive a shade. I’m just buying time. I’m being observant while I think of how to respond to my overwhelmed woman-girl. Her long wavy hair – both […]
Am I right, Ladies/Gentlemen?? Ha ha ha ha ha . I can’t stop laughing. I have shut out the world in my little sun-drenched makeshift office which, truth be told, used to be a lovely sunroom with flowing greenery and buds flowering in brilliant hues of yellows, reds and purples. (Getting to the funny part, bear with me.) Unfortunately, time went on and I forgot to water them. Who waters flowers weekly anyway? I thought maybe once a […]
Now that’s a concept “Both/And”….What the “F” am I talking about? (I refuse to use the f word in this blog as I am talking, in part, about my dream guy, who just happens to be a Franciscan Priest for Christ’s sake. That wasn’t a swear word either as I meant it quite literally. Geez…) In Richard Rohr’s amazing book, Falling Upward, he speaks about “Dualistic Thinking”. Much as the term “Manage My Now” in my last […]
Her head was lowered just enough to keep from making eye contact with the small crowd, yet high enough to see dust beneath her sneakers kick up dancing particles in the light from a small stained glass window that featured deep multicolored panels in the shape of a cross. She was in the basement of the Westminster Presbyterian Church forty minutes from her town, fifty minutes from her house, another twenty from her parish church and the […]
They Don't Have a Greeting Card for This 