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Select a Month 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

July 2017

July 20, 2017

The Danger is in Not Being You

There is a story that has been told in various ways about a rabbi named ...

May 2017

May 11, 2017

Could It Get Better? The Problem of Progressivism

I am writing this morning at a McDonalds in a small farm town near my...

October 2016

October 18, 2016

Public Service Reminder

“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” - Annie...

September 2016

September 01, 2016

The Mindfulness of Stoicism, Part Five

Last week I continued a discussion of the Stoic methods of inner-discipline (what’s popularly called...

August 2016

August 25, 2016

The Mindfulness of Stoicism, Part Four

Last week I continued a discussion of the Stoic methods of inner-discipline (what’s popularly called...

June 2016

June 28, 2016

You should start a meme, they said…

February 2016

February 16, 2016

The heartwork of coming alive

“Under all the harsh noise of the world coming in on us, this is how...

October 2015

October 29, 2015

Words, Words, and the Word Was With . . .

In his play Hamlet, Shakespeare has the character Polonius ask Hamlet, “What do you read,...

October 21, 2015

Things that get in the way

I often tell the story of the time my Chaplain Supervisor told me, “Deanna, I...

October 01, 2015

Looking For #Happiness, Epicurean Style

Who doesn’t want to be happy? Everybody wants to be happy. The trouble starts when...

July 2015

July 14, 2015

It’s a Both/And kind of world

There is a lot of either/or thinking in the common narrative today...and I think the world is...

March 2015

March 31, 2015

a love poem for a holy week

Happiness is this moment alive in the sunshine knowing I am Loved.

September 2014

September 30, 2014

A Summer Memory

for Maggie and Lewis As the dimming fall welcomes me back, a summer memory...

May 2014

May 02, 2014

Too Much Noise

The house is still and quiet. The only sounds are the low gurgle of the...

January 2014

January 20, 2014

How Is It with Your Day?

I recently asked a friend, via e-mail, what her daily routine was like. It was...

December 2013

December 23, 2013

Is This Christmas, Mama?

Every time we say “Christmas,” our little one points at the Christmas tree. The period...

October 2013

October 19, 2013

A Garden Prayer

That shrimp plant so determined to be seen poking through the ginger and the fig...

September 2013

September 28, 2013

Rejoice?

First, gather friends and family. Together, build a structure with at least three sides. Roof...

May 2013

May 02, 2013

“You’re Keeping That?”

While nursing lately, I've been watching the sun move across the dusty piano. "I've got...

March 2013

March 21, 2013

Ordinary Time

Though March is not the season of Ordinary Time according to the Roman Catholic calendar,...

March 08, 2013

This Is What’s Happening

This is what's happening, now. It is the last day of our week-and-a-half West Coast...

March 05, 2013

Waiting for Snow in Carlisle

Today, I carpooled to a daylong meeting with several colleagues. As we rode back toward...

February 2013

February 26, 2013

Paying Attention Again

“We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake. . . .Only that day dawns...

September 2012

September 12, 2012

Come In and Sing!

The National Cathedral in Reykjavík is a modest edifice, as far as cathedrals go, and...

September 02, 2012

Friends: The Spice of Life

If most of our life consists of basic repetitive tasks that are simple and predictable—some...

August 2012

August 05, 2012

August: The Year’s Midlife Crisis

I think August is the midlife...

July 2012

July 17, 2012

More, More, More!

As a New Yorker, I should be accustomed to the fact that the annual Fourth...

June 2012

June 23, 2012

A Moving Experience

My ministry in Philadelphia has led me to have two homes: a house in Central...

June 03, 2012

Haunting Conversations

I moved away from Minneapolis to live in Boston and DC from 1989-2004, and then...

June 01, 2012

Making Room for Silence

In his poem “Keeping Quiet” Pablo Neruda begins with this: Now we will count to...