In anticipation of Earth Day tomorrow, I want to share this great story from National Geographic, which is about animal conservation, a topic near and dear to my heart: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/conservation-cant-just-be-a-popularity-contest?loggedin=true The pictures in the article alone are “click-worthy”–they are from the Photo Ark Project by Joel Sartore. Some years ago, I was able to see…… Continue reading Expanding our Ideas of Beauty
Category: Love
Being Good in 2021
What is your reaction when someone tells you to “be good”? If you are like me, you sort of recoil a little bit and have a visceral negative response. Often, an external exhortation to goodness comes across as a demand for obedience, or adherence to someone else’s standards of morality, or a veiled accusation that…… Continue reading Being Good in 2021
A Good Time to Wait
This year, more than usual, I have been looking forward to the season of Advent. I love Advent every year, mostly because of how much I love Christmas, and so I take great delight in the anticipation of the joy of the incarnation and the celebration of Emmanuel, God-with-us. Christmas is a season of love,…… Continue reading A Good Time to Wait
Remembering Henry, on the Feast of St. Francis
Sunday was the Feast of St. Francis, and this was the first year in many, many years that I was not able to do a Blessing of the Animals service. That has always been one of my favorite services, and for these last 15 years, I always led them with little Henry. This is also…… Continue reading Remembering Henry, on the Feast of St. Francis
A Love Letter to Mary Oliver, on her Birthday
Dear Mary Forgive the formality, but I feel as though we are old friends, because I know your words so well. Today is your birthday, and it seems to me to be a fine time to write you a love letter. And, I promise I will take your advice: consider this my few words patched…… Continue reading A Love Letter to Mary Oliver, on her Birthday
Radical Hope: Letters of Love
I wanted to share a few thoughts from a great book that I just finished, given to me by a dear friend. The book is titled Radical Hope: Letters of Love and Dissent in Dangerous Times, edited by Carolina De Robertis. The idea came about three days after the 2016 election, when she found herself…… Continue reading Radical Hope: Letters of Love
Two Things Can be True at Once
How are you doing? If you ask me that question, I have two very different answers, both of which are true. The first one is that I am fine, and I have much to be thankful for: my health is good, and so is the health of my family; I have a safe home and…… Continue reading Two Things Can be True at Once
"Reach out with your Heart"
A friend of mine [thank you, Janelle!] shared this poem with me, and I loved it. I hope you love it, too! Stay safe and be well. “Pandemic” What if you thought of itas the Jews consider the Sabbath—the most sacred of times?Cease from travel.Cease from buying and selling.Give up, just for now,on trying to…… Continue reading "Reach out with your Heart"
Lent and Loving
Last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, the first day of the Liturgical Season of Lent; this is a time that the Catholic Church and most mainline Protestant Churches commemorate as a time of repentance and spiritual reflection leading up to the joyous season of Easter. In my Lenten Devotional this year, “Pauses for Lent,” I have…… Continue reading Lent and Loving
Reflections from Yom Kippur
Today is the conclusion of Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement, a day Jews take stock of their lives, give an accounting of the year, reevaluate priorities and actions, and confront their failings, assured of God’s forgiveness. In the Machzor for Yom Kippur (the service…… Continue reading Reflections from Yom Kippur
Happy Lutheran 