August 18, 2023

Happy birthday, Mom

Last night I dreamt that my cousin, Nancy, and her husband, Greg, were marrying after years together. First of all, in typical dream-like-suspension-of-reality, this is absurd. Nancy and Greg are married, and have been for years. They have…

August 17, 2023

Lessons from Winter: Perfection, Take 2

Personal best, not perfection. ~Bethany Faircloth The best is the enemy of the good. ~Voltaire And God saw that it was good . . . ~ Genesis This is my umpteenth attempt at this blog . . . a blog on perfectionism. In a series on lessons taken from sabbatical….

October 14, 2022

Best Friends

“We will be friends until forever, just you wait and see.” – Winnie the Pooh I did not marry my best friend. Did you? For many of my couples, yes. They happily say they are marrying their best friend. I love that. I think it is likely more common to…

September 26, 2022

The Motherless Decade

I knew this day was coming. Of course I did. It’s marked on my calendar, but I often wonder why I bother. It’s not like my mind, my body, my heart need the reminder. Today marks a full decade without my Mom. The motherless decade. I often say that time…

September 1, 2022

Everything is Hard

Everything is hard. That is my mantra these days. I acknowledge that, perhaps, it is not the best mantra. But I am not known among family and friends for being the perpetual ray of sunshine. Instead, I am known for my commitment to speaking the…

January 21, 2022

White Cup, Silver Cup

I have spent the past few weeks laser-focused on rituals – what they are, why we have them, the whole nine yards. Why? Well, I am teaching a workshop on “non-churchy” rituals for colleagues at Phillips Seminary in Tulsa next week, and I sure want…

October 7, 2021

A Tale of Two Ways

When I was in high school, we had to read “A Tale of Two Cities.” Upon completing the book, I was angry. I mean really, really mad. I’d just spent a week reading an entire book only to have **spoiler alert** the hero die at the end. In fact, I was so upset,…

September 30, 2021

COVID candy

In the midst of this seemingly never-ending global pandemic, I’ll admit there have been some moments of laughter, lightness, and happiness. I’ll admit to some silver linings and insights.  I’ll acknowledge that the slower pace of life has…