Something truly human: choosing love

Last week I pulled a comfy, old, cat-scratched chair outside, and put it on my tiny porch. Having it there makes opening the door a challenge, but this isn't the door that we use most of the time anyway. After I make coffee and feed the cats, I come out here with my cup of…

Heaven is now, when I remember that all is well

As many of you know, Jack and I have been hoping to buy a home in Middlebury VT, for about a year. Yesterday, we went through that house. As soon as we walked in the door, it felt like home. One of the owners gave us the tour (as her sweet toddler followed behind, happily…

1000 times Yes!

The other day my son Tom and I were discussing Christmas plans and he told me that he and his brother (my youngest son Matt) wanted to host the family Christmas gathering at our house, and that they wanted to do the menu planning and most of the cooking. If you could have seen me,…

how we pray

Yesterday I received an email from a friend who wanted to let me know that as she was driving home from a several-day trip away, a happy image of me had flashed through her mind and in that moment she sent a blessing. I was so touched and grateful for this prayer. I could feel…

Blessing others…with a smile

At the end of my run yesterday, I noticed a butterfly in my neighbor's driveway. I put my hand close to its front legs, and it crawled onto my finger. As I walked home, I kept thinking it was going to fly away, but it didn't, so when I got back to our house, I…

Time to go…. within

I wasn't raised with the idea that the Spirit of God was within me, was the animating Spirit of me, and so as a little girl, when I prayed, I imagined that God was something other than me; something distant, remote, unknowable and ultimately impossible to please. This logically led to prayers that were more…

Double blessings

Before I fell asleep last night, I was thinking about the incredible healing power that is released when we bless difficult situations, and got up this morning to read Maria Wulf's* beautiful blog on that very thing! A couple of months ago, a woman who I used to know, came into my mind. Several years…

Help is all around…even when we can’t see it

As almost a follow-up to yesterday's post, about claiming your dreams and not giving up on them, on Sunday, JoAnne F. (one of the White Feather Farm community) posted this deeply inspiring true story of the power of hope, prayer, and the help that comes from expected and unexpected places; the seen and the unseen…

Keeping the door, for a better future, open

Jack and I were talking about an opportunity that came his way several years ago, one that was fun, exciting, profitable, and totally engrossing. We can both easily remember those feelings of working on the project, first him alone, and then us together. During the conversation I said, "That was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." This statement…

writing our own prayers

The other day, Jack and I were driving along, having an absolutely wonderful time, when the words to the "Act of Contrition" came barreling into my head. Where did that come from?! was my first thought, and then I asked Jack if he remembered it (since he was also raised Catholic). He did not, but…