faith

  • Frozen

    I went for a run on a freezing day and I was surrounded by ghosts. Surprisingly, I can run longer when the air is cold and the sun is bright, and it was a day just like that, so I took myself down the road past my kids’ old elementary school. The school is closed…

  • Celebration Song (Red, part two)

    My mother had a print of a painting in her house and I said I liked it, so of course she bought me one. It’s called ‘Celebration Song’, by Tim Steward, and it seems to depict in streaks of earth tones a Heavenly scene of thirteen spirits rejoicing together. It’s a bit abstract, but to…

  • Trust

    Once there was a girl and she walked through the halls of a large, sprawling house which she did not build. She carried a blueprint in her pocket and sometimes she consulted it for direction, but not always. The girl walked, in and out of halls and rooms, through every year of her life. In…

  • Red

    If you ask any of my former preschool-aged music students what they remember about my classes, they may sing one of two phrases back at you. The first is ‘sticks on your shoulders’, which is sung to an annoying, but memorable tune. It’s a reminder to the kids to keep their wooden rhythm sticks on…

  • Sing

    Once there was a girl who walked down a road. Her dress was tattered and her hair dirty and knotted. She thought she was alone, but she was wrong. When she finally felt his hand in hers, she looked up and smiled with recognition. And kept walking. One day, he started to speak to her…

  • Bulb

      I love podcasts. It seems I can’t clean a counter, prep a meal, or take a walk without one lately. I love learning and taking in information in this intimate, friendly, funny format. I have dozens of podcasts on my phone at a given time, their subjects ranging from improv comedy to storytelling to…

  • Story

    At mass this morning, we had a guest celebrant. Fr. Kevin had been ordained a priest this past spring, and before that, he studied in Rome, and before that, he entered the seminary, and before that, he was a youth minister, and before that, he was a Spanish teacher, and before that, he was a…

  • Word

    Did you ever hear something come out of someone’s mouth that rang so true that it slowed time, just a little? It could be truth, or wisdom, or encouragement, but when it hits you, you know it’s something you needed like a missing puzzle piece in the very depths of you and the only response…

  • Grow

    I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.  So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 1Corinthians 3:6-7 I have planted some things in my time, in our little yard. Several pots of New Guinea Impatiens and…

  • Becoming

    One day when my kids were very small, I was talking to my mother about a new habit of mine. Even though I took several daily walks with the kids during those busy years, I had begun getting up really early and walking by myself before my husband left for work. I used the time…