The Timbre of Grief
“This is your captain speaking. We’ve had more contact with air traffic control in New York. All planes are to land at the nearest airport and wait for additional instruction—We’ll be coming down at...
View ArticleCPA Step Seven
Step Seven of Chronic Pain Anonymous – Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. In Recipe for Recovery I found the description for Humility, central to Step Seven and CPA recovery: “…we accept and...
View ArticleA Lamp
Your word is a lamp for my feet, so prayed the Psalmist who sought to know and follow God’s will, within the specificities of his time and place. This spiritual practice, for centuries internalized by...
View ArticleThe Inside of Darkness
The inside of darkness is like a thief continuing to encroach upon our sun-time, October’s riotous display, only the faintest of memories. Leaves from scarlet maples, burgundy pear trees, buttery tulip...
View ArticleMelt-down
“I’m so sorry, Mrs. Talbot, but we did all we could—Your husband’s heart just gave out on us,” said the emergency room doctor to the silver-haired woman sitting across from me. She gasped, then sagged...
View ArticleThe Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson
In most fairy tales Queens are portrayed as all loving or conniving; they evoke strong feelings—admiration or aversion—within the depths of their listeners. However, in The Snow Queen (1844) written by...
View ArticleTreasure Hunt
Seems that my long life is like a treasure hunt. Once I stepped back from significant teachers and took stock of what I found, I began discerning clues about the Sacred in places I ordinarily would not...
View ArticleGypsy – Refugee by Patricia Coughlin
Weave together the gifted Dalmatian puppy with a gold earring, with the Collins’s children and their adventuresome single mom, and the children’s story, Gypsy – The Refugee (2021), emerges as a...
View ArticleWonder
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the handiwork of his hands. Psalm 19: 1
View ArticleMore About Mary Oliver’s “The Summer Day”
Tell me, what is it you plan to do With your one wild and precious life? The concluding question of Mary Oliver’s short poem, “The Summer Day,” prompts another response. Viewing my life as one wild and...
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