With days filled with lists of things to do and struggles for achievements of one kind or another, how are we to know what is “essential” and what “inessential”? This time of Lent, which began last week with Ash Wednesday, brings a question like this forward. It’s been sitting there quietly all along, of course, not making a fuss, but now the season escorts it gently up to the front of the room so that we might get a good … Read More
In our house, there’s agreement that Whitney Houston’s best song was definitely not either “I Will Always Love You” or “Greatest Love of All.” Both of these, we think, suffer from weightiness; even as they do showcase the sheer power of the singer’s a voice — they’re just too solemn for our taste. My husband, who has never been known for his moves out on the floor, is absolutely sure that “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)” is … Read More
We have just received our new “Friends” membership packet to the Emily Dickinson Museum, a place my husband and I like to support for many reasons. Since I have been thinking a great deal about friendship recently, the mailing is particularly timely for me. A refrigerator magnet that was included in the envelope has a famous sentence from one of the poet’s letters: “My friends are my ‘Estate.’” It is such an apt way to describe both how the museum … Read More
Let’s get the part of this post that is about Tim Tebow out of the way first. Here’s a paragraph from an article in The New York Times that appeared back in the fall: At the intersection of faith and football, the fervor that surrounds both Tebow’s beliefs and his struggles in his second season for the Denver Broncos has escalated into a full-blown national debate over religion and its place in sports. (“In Tebow Debate, a Clash of Faith … Read More
It’s never surprising to me when a Beatles song captures the spirit of real events unfolding in our lives, but recently this particular tune has really done that: “You say ‘Yes,’ I say ‘No.” You say ‘Stop’ and I say ‘Go, go, go.” Those of us over 50 will no doubt remember “Hello Goodbye” from the Magical Mystery Tour album that came out in 1967. When he was asked to explain where the lyrics came from, Paul apparently said, among … Read More
In my “Welcome Message” I describe how my eye often goes to the line where two different colors meet, such as that familiar ceiling – to – wall intersection. A friend has since told me that she has a long history of gazing at this particular meeting place, too, and was relieved to learn that she wasn’t alone. From my vantage point as a clergy spouse with virtually no religious upbringing in my youth, I see this kind of one-thing-meets-different-thing … Read More
“Out with the Old, In with the New” is a line we hear often around New Year’s time. In a way, of course, that’s much easier said than done: aren’t we all more or less amalgamations of what’s past, what’s present, and what’s still to come? You may grant me the first two easily but hesitate at the third: none of us can fully predict what is still in front of us, and that is probably for the best. But … Read More
One day early in our marriage, I came back to our apartment in New Haven and found my husband sitting back in his desk chair, feet up on the desk, with a strange expression on his face. “What are you doing?” I asked. “Waiting for the Eschaton,” he replied. It was then that I realized I had some adjusting, or a whole lot of catching up, to do. The Eschaton, as many of you no doubt already know and I … Read More
We are just a couple of weeks away from the year 2012, and that means we will be just three years away from 2015 – target date for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (or MDGs). Established in 2000 at the United Nations by 189 world leaders, the eight goals are: 1) Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger 2) Achieve universal primary education 3) Promote gender equality and empower women 4) Reduce child mortality 5) Improve maternal health 6) Combat … Read More
I spent the day after Thanksgiving, a day that has come to be known as “Black Friday,” at a sports complex with multiple hockey rinks. Our daughter plays on a team in the New England Girls Hockey League, and this year the state tournament happened earlier than usual. Through the past half a dozen seasons which stretch from October to March, I have become accustomed to driving to one hockey shrine or another on this holiday weekend. It might be … Read More