Blog

Last fall I attended a story telling workshop at Pendle Hill Quaker Center for Study and Contemplation. The workshop was led by Irish poet/theologian Padraig O'Tauma. At the beginning of our time together, Padriag told the large circle of attendees that it was our job...

I keep hearing people talk about arriving at a "new normal." As if the circumstances we are in have already achieved this milestone when we are neck-deep in the shifting sands of uncertainty, vulnerability, and fear. We might have one day that feels like it might be a...

With the prevalence of news available to us all in a 24/7 cycle we are all witness, daily, to the unfolding traumas of this pandemic. Every single day we have access to the powerlessness and vulnerability of our families, communities, countries and world. We can...

After my mom died in 2006, I attended a grief support group at an area hospice. There were many takeaways in that time of loss. One that stays with me in this time of great upheaval is that our losses can have an echo. The feelings of older losses come back and...

In the wee hours of the night when sleep escapes me, I start to pray and listen and think about how I can survive wherever this process takes us. Like everyone I know I feel powerless, full of emotion, fearful and broken in turn. Feelings come out of nowhere. They can...

What I've been reviewing lately is how hard it can be to fix meals in a time of loss. After a long work day, I find myself staring into the refrigerator and freezer and noticing delicious and healthy supplies—and still not being able to choose. Sometimes when I...

Digging, chopping, pulling, pushing—shovel, hoe, pitch fork, wheel barrow. Working in my weedy vegetable garden in recent days I began to think about the how much this physical effort is a mirror for grief. Mourning the loss of someone or something seems...

In the months after my mom died (nearly 10 years ago) I participated in a grief support group offered by a local hospice facility. One of the takeaways that has stayed with me across the years it to have a plan in advance. That empowering thought—have a...

"What a world! What a world!" – The Wicked Witch of the West In the movie The Wizard of Oz we’ve all watched the as the Tin Man awakens, the monkeys fly, and the Wicked Witch laments "What a World! What a World!" melts. In recent days, in the face of all that seems...

In his book Life's Journeys According to Mister Rogers, Fred Rogers writes: "I saw a friend who's a freelance writer and asked him what he was working on. "Nothing right now," he answered. "You know how it is with freelancers. But at times like this I tell myself I'm...