What’s in your Spiritual Toolbox?
When the first signs of green mold emerged on the railing of my deck, I grabbed a scrub bucket and sponge. Two days of scrub, rinse, repeat convinced me there must be a better way. Enter the power washer, my…
Prayer shawls
Gert wasn’t a fancy knitter. When her cancer returned, I brought her a prayer shawl. Sometime during her final illness, she decided to knit a prayer shawl for someone else. Nothing fancy, a simple rectangle in a nubby brown yarn.…
Contemplation and action: who is my neighbor?
Humor me. It’s an old story and you’ve heard it a thousand times. Jesus has just finished telling his followers “You must love your God with all your heart, with all your soul, all your strength and all your mind…
Peer leaders
Last week, the PBS Newshour featured an essay by educator Keith Frome. Frome believes that the best way to get more kids to apply to college is peer pressure. He’s developed a unique way of helping kids from low-income communities…
Standing on the Shoulders of Saints
I picked apples last weekend. You wouldn’t think one apple tree could possibly be so prolific, but my kitchen tells another story. I’ve made applesauce, apple pies, fruit leather, and apple crumble. We’ve eaten apples with caramel, and apples with…
An Integrated Life
Our plan to explore Lake Superior involved renting a motor boat. How hard could that be? We figured Fred had pulled plenty of ski boats, and Sarah and Lisa had kayaked extensively. Besides, I’d taught water aerobics for years, so…
