faith

  • Lens

    Lens

    See with a God-shaped lens, and set your minds toward hope. Here is not our home.

  • First

    First

    We were waiting for a table at Bickford’s, a very rare post-mass breakfast out with the family. I was probably only six or seven years old, but I vividly remember the smell of pancakes, my sisters and I huddled in the restaurant entryway in our winter coats. There was much more than syrup on my…

  • Vision

    Vision

    In hopeful, clear moments, I see that the Lord is actually in this place, in what can seem to me like desert. And sometimes I’m sleeping on stone.

  • Advent

    Advent

    It was the day after Thanksgiving, and the traditional start to the Christmas season, but I didn’t feel like Christmas.

  • Retreat

    I was on retreat this weekend with a group of women and I had somewhat of a leadership role. I gave a talk, and helped facilitate conversations, but mostly I was in the retreat experience along with everyone else. It might have been easy for the women to believe that the ‘leaders’ among the group…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Introvert

    Today I made small talk with the girl at the coffee shop and laughed with a bank teller. I welcomed a new Dad to music class with a smile and I looked him right in the eye, too. None of these small actions seems like a big deal, but if you knew me at age…

  • 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…