Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Good Letters

Home
Catholic

personal reflection

Select a Category A. G. Harmon Alissa Wilkinson Allison Backous Art Authors Brad Fruhauff Bradford Winters Bryan Bliss Caroline Langston Chad Thomas Johnston Chris Hoke Christiana N. Peterson Culture D.G. Myers D.L. Mayfield Daniel Bowman Jr. David Griffith Elizabeth Duffy Faith Film Greg Wolfe Guest Contributor Interview Jan Vallone Jeffrey Overstreet Jessica Eddings-Roeser Jessica Mesman Griffith Kelly Foster Lindsey Crittenden Morgan Meis music Natalie Vestin Nick Olson Peggy Rosenthal Personal Reflection Poetry Friday Reflection Relationships Review Richard Chess Richard Cole Sara Zarr Shannon Huffman Polson Sonya Bilocerkowycz Tania Runyan Tony Woodlief Topical Categories Uncategorized Vic Sizemore Writing

Select a Month October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 February 2008

September 2017

September 26, 2017

Painting Brings the Ancestors Around

On a November evening last year, I walked to my rosemaling class and sat around...

August 2017

August 03, 2017

Smelling A Rat

This post originally appeared on “Good Letters” on October 15, 2014. About a year ago...

July 2017

July 31, 2017

Who Is This Aliveness I Am?

I am alive. I am alive. I am alive. Who is this aliveness I...

April 2017

April 11, 2017

Take, Eat

By Sneha Abraham. I clutch the edge of the cracked leather seat and close my...

March 2017

March 28, 2017

Mysteries Sherlock Holmes Can’t Solve

“No, you should definitely major in English,” I told our babysitter, a high-school senior from...

February 2017

February 09, 2017

Ready to Run

Midway along the journey of our life I woke to find myself in a dark...

December 2016

December 19, 2016

I Miss Gwen Ifill

For Kate Keplinger It is the blight man was born for It is Margaret that...

November 2016

November 30, 2016

The Ghosts of Home

When I visit my family in northern Minnesota, I find myself on the same roads...

November 29, 2016

A Farmer’s Lament

Last weekend, I cooked lunch for three farmers. One of them was my husband. The...

June 2016

June 21, 2016

Knee Walk

By Grace Talusan We stumbled onto the bus in Lisbon, sleepy after the overnight flight...

June 20, 2016

My HIV Test

By Paul Luikart Here’s something I never told my parents: some years ago I got...

June 13, 2016

Eden at the Indy 500

I managed to live in Indiana for forty years before visiting the Indianapolis 500. A...

June 09, 2016

The Best Conditions for Work

For William Carlos Williams I work best alone. In an empty house. When I’m ready...

June 07, 2016

A Letter To My Sister

Eve, my sister The one who took the fall Eve, my sister Mother of us...

June 06, 2016

Who’s Your Daddy?

Adoptive parents develop radar for insensitive language and story lines pretty quickly. Wes Anderson’s simplistic...

May 2016

May 25, 2016

Impounded by Poetry

By Cathy Warner After one glass of wine, one poetry reading, and two hours, my...

May 23, 2016

The Prophet of Uninterrupted Complaint

I am grateful for deadlines, even when I have little time, or only brief windows...

May 19, 2016

The Long Regretful Wait

By Tony Woodlief My mother’s quavering voicemail was right: I hadn’t called in a long...

May 18, 2016

Passing the Possibility of Parenthood

Early one recent morning, I’m still half-asleep. The cat lies curled up between Craig and...

May 17, 2016

Grief and the Weight of Glory

The wind whips through the quilts and sheets on our clothesline, cracking now and then...

May 16, 2016

Fun with Circumcision

Every year, when a specific national obstetrics and gynecology conference (or is it pediatrics?) comes...

May 12, 2016

A Poet Walks Into a Business Networking Event

The poet gives a young woman $15 for admission, squeezes her drink ticket like a...

May 11, 2016

My Prayer Is Not Prayer

My prayer is not prayer, not exactly. It includes words. It may even begin with...

May 10, 2016

Thin Places, Part 2

Continued from yesterday. Read Part 1 here. In the rocky cave-like interior at Newgrange, the...

May 09, 2016

Thin Places, Part 1

A few summers ago, my husband Tom and I were in Dublin for a week,...

May 02, 2016

Love in the Time of Bacteria

Last week, I walked up Dale Street from the train station. It's a perilous walk...

April 2016

April 25, 2016

The Cave of My Imagination

By Jason K. Friedman Ma’arat Ha-machpelah, the alliterative name sounded as magical to me as...

April 21, 2016

Flying into Fear, Part 2

Read Part 1 here. My fear of flying made every flight I took an exhausting...

April 20, 2016

Flying into Fear, Part 1

Years ago, I worked with a woman who sold her car after a spider's nest...

April 18, 2016

Conference Envy: A Survival Guide

Yesterday I was running around the park in a T-shirt with a birthday party full...