A good friend of mine, way out in the Pacific Northwest, said something like this on the phone last night: “Sometimes it feels more right to say, ‘Here we are!’ than ‘Here we go!’ ” I think her point was that it can startle us to recognize that we’re actually in a time that we might have preferred to think would remain in our future. Or, said otherwise, we may not want to see ourselves as old, but we’re damn … Read More
When two people live together as spouses or partners, they converge in certain ways and at certain times. Over the past couple of years, the line on this graph — how much actual time spent in the same domicile — went way, way up. When it comes to managing their respective occupations, however, unless they happen to work together, they may often feel that they’re moving along side-by-side, but separately, like a pair of railroad tracks. Not completely like railroad … Read More
Just as millions of Christians worldwide start up the on-ramp towards Easter Sunday, a certain mega-star has joined — in a manner of speaking — this particular clergy family. If you don’t know him (and that can be forgiven), here are some facts: he has been the most streamed artist of the year on Spotify, his genre is called reggaeton, he is huge throughout the Spanish-speaking Caribbean and also in New York City (where this photo was taken, during a … Read More
Not to be heavy or anything, but how close do you think life and death really are? Sometimes, and especially in certain seasons, like Lent right now, the difference seems to be just a whisper. The two states of being, one actually of not being, couldn’t be more opposite. And yet, looked at in a certain light, they are also right next to one another, chock-a-block, and sometimes you might even mistake one for the other. People who are grieving … Read More
How many words do you know that have one “u” right after the other? And if you do know one, do you also know how to pronounce it? My husband, who regularly passes along interesting tidbits of knowledge to me, taught me the term “Easter Triduum” just the other day, when he was pondering the plethora of sermons he needed to present over the three days we’re in right now. Needless to say, Easter itself has come around plenty of … Read More
“There’s no Jeopardy on tonight because of March Madness,” said my disappointed husband, much more a fan of the quiz show than of the N.C.A.A. That was on Thursday. Meanwhile, I’ve been well aware of March Madness, and not just because I grew up with four older brothers. This year, the kind on TV is just a backdrop, though, to the kind simmering in me. My version might more accurately be described as Mad at March. Is April the cruelest … Read More
Trying to close in on finishing something like a first draft of my book in the next few weeks, I’m finding myself more aware than usual of the difference between writing and more quotidian matters. As he prepared to start his day the other morning, with the prospect of designing three different Easter weekend sermons on his mind, my husband said to me, “You may have noticed that the refrigerator door isn’t closing right.” What a guy. He … Read More
“We were both right!” The girl I mentor, who is now a whopping 14, said this jubilantly as she got in my car a couple of weeks ago, heading to her hip-hop dance class. I didn’t even know what she was referring to, but I loved what she said immediately. Turns out, I was right about the remaining cost of the 8th grade trip to Washington D.C. But, in a way, she was too, because a few days before … Read More
One of my favorite highway signs has always been “Merge” because it’s usually wonderful when different lanes or people or traditions or what-have-you can flow together. Off the road, I had an experience over the weekend that brought into the present elements of a past I never even knew. Since Easter is all about rejuvenation, I tried something new this time. Instead of dressing up and getting in the car with family members (one of whom would be … Read More
The way I see it, time is getting more and more precious, so I’m less and less embarrassed about reaching for the simplified version of something I still want to learn. If there’s a long and a short, I’ll often opt for the short, with clear conscience. The birds are twittering, the field is more soggy than snowy, Easter is coming, and days continue to be jam-packed: kind of like a bulging suitcase that you have to press down hard … Read More