“Every time I hear this song, I think about God,” she said. We were having a conversation about how different pop songs evoke spiritual themes. Soon the conversation branched out from music to movies, family time, and other things altogether. “I guess we shouldn’t be surprised,” I added, “since the whole idea of Jesus is that God is incarnate, always showing up in tangible ways.” Our conversation reminded me of a the Celtic concept of "thin places." Thin places are those moments and locations...
8 days ago • 2 min read
"Hang on a sec. I have to get my knee going," I said to my husband as we eased out of the car after grocery shopping. I have committed to taking a walk everyday. I enjoy the brisk air announcing the long-awaited arrival of autumn. I have a queue full of interesting podcast episodes and varied routes plotted, depending on the length of walk I want to take. What I don't have, is a cooperative right knee. It barks at me. Once I take a few steps, it chills out and calms down, waiting to attack...
15 days ago • 2 min read
"He needs bypass surgery as soon as possible." Those words changed my family when we heard them. My dad, barely in his sixties, was in real danger of a fatal heart attack without immediate and drastic surgical intervention. After recovering from the invasive surgery, he made real changes in his life and lived well beyond expected rates, enjoying another 2 decades. He saw his adult kids settle into their lives. He continued deep and meaningful relationships with extended family and friends,...
22 days ago • 2 min read
I spent half a day today cleaning out spaces I’ve let get away from me. Nothing dramatic, just those countertops and closets that quietly gather clutter over time. Instead of doing a few minutes each day to keep it in check, I let things pile up until it became a half-day project of sorting, tossing, and wondering why I ever kept some of this stuff in the first place. Do you think the same is true for our inner selves? I think it might be. I wonder how often we mean to tend to the small...
29 days ago • 1 min read
I am a nut for baseball, particularly the Chicago Cubs. Guess what? They are in the playoffs! I couldn’t be more excited or ridiculous about it. But here’s the twist: I’m not praying for them to win. Shocking, right? I need you to know I’d absolutely wear stinky, lucky socks for days if I thought it would help them win. But my prayers aren’t about runs or standings. When I pray about baseball, my prayers sound different. I pray that every team and every player will be the best version of...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
This week, some voices predicted the rapture. As with every generation before us, the day came and went. For millennia, Christians have been looking to the horizon, watching for Christ’s return. That hope is part of our faith story, and someday this world as we know it will end for us. But if we’re honest, the harder moments are not the cosmic ones, they are the personal ones. We all know what it feels like to cry out for God to help us and end up with a, “But Jesus didn’t come” feeling...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
There’s a lot of violence swirling around us right now. Layered onto that, political rhetoric has become brutal, mass shootings continue, and so many voices, from media to social feeds, distort, gaslight, or manipulate until it’s hard to tell what’s real. Add to that the growing concerns about health insurance affordability in 2026, food prices, the world our children and grandchildren will have to navigate, plus all the personal stuff we're dragging around... It’s all very heavy, and it will...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
A neurobiologist came across my social media feed. He makes short videos of himself doing simple movements that help our brains + bodies recover what we had in childhood. Some of the movements are simple, others a little more complex, all are helpful for decreasing pain and increasing abilities in our bodies. Ok, cool. I've tried some. Doing so got me thinking about other things that are lost to my childhood: curiosity, awe, play, reading in the back window of the car on trips, and probably a...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
I stood up earlier and had the best stretch. I could feel my body loosening all the way to my toes. It felt soooo good. I’ve been trying to get more flexible lately. I've never been very bendy to start with, and I don't know that I will ever become super flexible, but I can feel a difference. My body keeps reminding me that if I don’t stretch and move, stiffness sets in. Loosening those tight muscles feels amazing, and it also helps protect me from injuries, giving me the freedom to move...
2 months ago • 2 min read