Singing Along the Journey

gratitude

Broken shards and forgiveness with a catchy beat…

And for days, my ear worm has been set on an old, old song from my days as a worship leader in a Unity School Church.  I had occasion in conversation to use a phrase that I don't use very often these days -- you are a beloved Child of God.  And that set off a firestorm of musical remembrance that has continued for days as every fiber of my being joins in the chorus of "I am the radiant life of God," written by Georgiana Tree West back in the 1930's at the beginnings of the Unity movement.  If you dare, you can listen to a great performance of…
Read More

Deep roots and remembrance…

Okay, I'll admit it.  I have an obsession with trees.  Wherever I go, I seek out the "local" tree -- that indigenous expression of what it takes to survive and thrive and have long life in that particular little piece of the planet.  I have countless pictures of giant sequoias, and yellow oak trees, and weeping willows, and red maples, and...well, you get the idea. I've just returned from a quick trip to Albuquerque, NM, and I had a chance to take some great pictures of cotton wood trees as I walked along the Paseo del Bosque, part of Albuquerque's great Open Space system.  Truth be told, I was surprised…
Read More

I will, with God’s help…

Seven years ago today, I was baptized into the community known as the Calvary Baptist Church.  Each year since then, on this date, I have taken time to reflect on that day and all that has followed, and generally, I've written something maybe meaningful, maybe...and shared it with all of you.  I really thought that I would let today pass without mention this year, but apparently that will not be the case. If there is any lesson that comes with living a few years, it is this -- that what we think to be constant and solid in our lives almost always proves to be as transitory as the dust…
Read More

Remembering joy…

Monday evening, I participated in the Service of Remembrance at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in my neighborhood.  The Service of Remembrance, or, as some call it, a "blue" service, is the seasonal service for "the rest of us" -- those of us who find the required mirth of the secular season difficult.  I am always surprised that so few people attend these services, because I know that there are so many who find this season challenging.  For me, it was an important time to stop and feel, to sit and pray, and to be with others in a like-hearted space. In one brief hour, whoever planned the service managed to…
Read More

A life (and death) with Grace

Grace.  We all want more of it, don't we?  We all want people to think of us as a person with grace of all kinds -- grace of movement, grace of spirit, and grace of living.  I have been luckier than most -- because for the last 10 years, I have had Grace living in my house, teaching me daily all the possible lessons that you might think about when you think of living with grace (and living with Grace). As I write this, we are walking through the final days of our little Grace's life.  And by the time I make this public so that you can read it…
Read More

Fifteen years, remembrance, and gratitude

This day is never an easy one for me.  I, like anyone who lived in Washington DC, or New York, or a little town in Pennsylvania called Shanksville, have my personal story to tell about that day.  That, however, is not the story I want to tell today as we remember the events of 15 years ago.  I want to tell you the story of a man whose name I do not know, a man working in a TSA line, in Columbus, OH. I was in Ohio (really in Gambier not in Columbus, but that was the nearest airport) to participate in the Kenyon Institute's Beyond Walls spiritual writing program.…
Read More

Today…

Today is my birthday.  We won't discuss how many of those there have been, but it is safe to say that this particular birthday should be special.  It is a birthday that very well might not have happened.  Or certainly might have happened in a very different way than finding me in the midst of my too-too-busy schedule running to that finish line known as graduation. I might not have been here to say:  I'm healthy (even if I can't really say that I'm happy) and moving and exercising and learning and loving and doing all the things that make up a life. And yet, I feel no desire, frankly…
Read More

Broken shards and forgiveness with a catchy beat…

And for days, my ear worm has been set on an old, old song from my days as a worship leader in a Unity School Church.  I had occasion in conversation to use a phrase that I don't use very often these days -- you are a beloved Child of God.  And that set off a firestorm of musical remembrance that has continued for days as every fiber of my being joins in the chorus of "I am the radiant life of God," written by Georgiana Tree West back in the 1930's at the beginnings of the Unity movement.  If you dare, you can listen to a great performance of…
Read More

Deep roots and remembrance…

Okay, I'll admit it.  I have an obsession with trees.  Wherever I go, I seek out the "local" tree -- that indigenous expression of what it takes to survive and thrive and have long life in that particular little piece of the planet.  I have countless pictures of giant sequoias, and yellow oak trees, and weeping willows, and red maples, and...well, you get the idea. I've just returned from a quick trip to Albuquerque, NM, and I had a chance to take some great pictures of cotton wood trees as I walked along the Paseo del Bosque, part of Albuquerque's great Open Space system.  Truth be told, I was surprised…
Read More

I will, with God’s help…

Seven years ago today, I was baptized into the community known as the Calvary Baptist Church.  Each year since then, on this date, I have taken time to reflect on that day and all that has followed, and generally, I've written something maybe meaningful, maybe...and shared it with all of you.  I really thought that I would let today pass without mention this year, but apparently that will not be the case. If there is any lesson that comes with living a few years, it is this -- that what we think to be constant and solid in our lives almost always proves to be as transitory as the dust…
Read More

Remembering joy…

Monday evening, I participated in the Service of Remembrance at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in my neighborhood.  The Service of Remembrance, or, as some call it, a "blue" service, is the seasonal service for "the rest of us" -- those of us who find the required mirth of the secular season difficult.  I am always surprised that so few people attend these services, because I know that there are so many who find this season challenging.  For me, it was an important time to stop and feel, to sit and pray, and to be with others in a like-hearted space. In one brief hour, whoever planned the service managed to…
Read More

A life (and death) with Grace

Grace.  We all want more of it, don't we?  We all want people to think of us as a person with grace of all kinds -- grace of movement, grace of spirit, and grace of living.  I have been luckier than most -- because for the last 10 years, I have had Grace living in my house, teaching me daily all the possible lessons that you might think about when you think of living with grace (and living with Grace). As I write this, we are walking through the final days of our little Grace's life.  And by the time I make this public so that you can read it…
Read More

Fifteen years, remembrance, and gratitude

This day is never an easy one for me.  I, like anyone who lived in Washington DC, or New York, or a little town in Pennsylvania called Shanksville, have my personal story to tell about that day.  That, however, is not the story I want to tell today as we remember the events of 15 years ago.  I want to tell you the story of a man whose name I do not know, a man working in a TSA line, in Columbus, OH. I was in Ohio (really in Gambier not in Columbus, but that was the nearest airport) to participate in the Kenyon Institute's Beyond Walls spiritual writing program.…
Read More

Today…

Today is my birthday.  We won't discuss how many of those there have been, but it is safe to say that this particular birthday should be special.  It is a birthday that very well might not have happened.  Or certainly might have happened in a very different way than finding me in the midst of my too-too-busy schedule running to that finish line known as graduation. I might not have been here to say:  I'm healthy (even if I can't really say that I'm happy) and moving and exercising and learning and loving and doing all the things that make up a life. And yet, I feel no desire, frankly…
Read More

Broken shards and forgiveness with a catchy beat…

And for days, my ear worm has been set on an old, old song from my days as a worship leader in a Unity School Church.  I had occasion in conversation to use a phrase that I don't use very often these days -- you are a beloved Child of God.  And that set off a firestorm of musical remembrance that has continued for days as every fiber of my being joins in the chorus of "I am the radiant life of God," written by Georgiana Tree West back in the 1930's at the beginnings of the Unity movement.  If you dare, you can listen to a great performance of…
Read More

Deep roots and remembrance…

Okay, I'll admit it.  I have an obsession with trees.  Wherever I go, I seek out the "local" tree -- that indigenous expression of what it takes to survive and thrive and have long life in that particular little piece of the planet.  I have countless pictures of giant sequoias, and yellow oak trees, and weeping willows, and red maples, and...well, you get the idea. I've just returned from a quick trip to Albuquerque, NM, and I had a chance to take some great pictures of cotton wood trees as I walked along the Paseo del Bosque, part of Albuquerque's great Open Space system.  Truth be told, I was surprised…
Read More

I will, with God’s help…

Seven years ago today, I was baptized into the community known as the Calvary Baptist Church.  Each year since then, on this date, I have taken time to reflect on that day and all that has followed, and generally, I've written something maybe meaningful, maybe...and shared it with all of you.  I really thought that I would let today pass without mention this year, but apparently that will not be the case. If there is any lesson that comes with living a few years, it is this -- that what we think to be constant and solid in our lives almost always proves to be as transitory as the dust…
Read More

Remembering joy…

Monday evening, I participated in the Service of Remembrance at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in my neighborhood.  The Service of Remembrance, or, as some call it, a "blue" service, is the seasonal service for "the rest of us" -- those of us who find the required mirth of the secular season difficult.  I am always surprised that so few people attend these services, because I know that there are so many who find this season challenging.  For me, it was an important time to stop and feel, to sit and pray, and to be with others in a like-hearted space. In one brief hour, whoever planned the service managed to…
Read More

A life (and death) with Grace

Grace.  We all want more of it, don't we?  We all want people to think of us as a person with grace of all kinds -- grace of movement, grace of spirit, and grace of living.  I have been luckier than most -- because for the last 10 years, I have had Grace living in my house, teaching me daily all the possible lessons that you might think about when you think of living with grace (and living with Grace). As I write this, we are walking through the final days of our little Grace's life.  And by the time I make this public so that you can read it…
Read More

Fifteen years, remembrance, and gratitude

This day is never an easy one for me.  I, like anyone who lived in Washington DC, or New York, or a little town in Pennsylvania called Shanksville, have my personal story to tell about that day.  That, however, is not the story I want to tell today as we remember the events of 15 years ago.  I want to tell you the story of a man whose name I do not know, a man working in a TSA line, in Columbus, OH. I was in Ohio (really in Gambier not in Columbus, but that was the nearest airport) to participate in the Kenyon Institute's Beyond Walls spiritual writing program.…
Read More

Today…

Today is my birthday.  We won't discuss how many of those there have been, but it is safe to say that this particular birthday should be special.  It is a birthday that very well might not have happened.  Or certainly might have happened in a very different way than finding me in the midst of my too-too-busy schedule running to that finish line known as graduation. I might not have been here to say:  I'm healthy (even if I can't really say that I'm happy) and moving and exercising and learning and loving and doing all the things that make up a life. And yet, I feel no desire, frankly…
Read More

Broken shards and forgiveness with a catchy beat…

And for days, my ear worm has been set on an old, old song from my days as a worship leader in a Unity School Church.  I had occasion in conversation to use a phrase that I don't use very often these days -- you are a beloved Child of God.  And that set off a firestorm of musical remembrance that has continued for days as every fiber of my being joins in the chorus of "I am the radiant life of God," written by Georgiana Tree West back in the 1930's at the beginnings of the Unity movement.  If you dare, you can listen to a great performance of…
Read More

Deep roots and remembrance…

Okay, I'll admit it.  I have an obsession with trees.  Wherever I go, I seek out the "local" tree -- that indigenous expression of what it takes to survive and thrive and have long life in that particular little piece of the planet.  I have countless pictures of giant sequoias, and yellow oak trees, and weeping willows, and red maples, and...well, you get the idea. I've just returned from a quick trip to Albuquerque, NM, and I had a chance to take some great pictures of cotton wood trees as I walked along the Paseo del Bosque, part of Albuquerque's great Open Space system.  Truth be told, I was surprised…
Read More

I will, with God’s help…

Seven years ago today, I was baptized into the community known as the Calvary Baptist Church.  Each year since then, on this date, I have taken time to reflect on that day and all that has followed, and generally, I've written something maybe meaningful, maybe...and shared it with all of you.  I really thought that I would let today pass without mention this year, but apparently that will not be the case. If there is any lesson that comes with living a few years, it is this -- that what we think to be constant and solid in our lives almost always proves to be as transitory as the dust…
Read More

Remembering joy…

Monday evening, I participated in the Service of Remembrance at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in my neighborhood.  The Service of Remembrance, or, as some call it, a "blue" service, is the seasonal service for "the rest of us" -- those of us who find the required mirth of the secular season difficult.  I am always surprised that so few people attend these services, because I know that there are so many who find this season challenging.  For me, it was an important time to stop and feel, to sit and pray, and to be with others in a like-hearted space. In one brief hour, whoever planned the service managed to…
Read More

A life (and death) with Grace

Grace.  We all want more of it, don't we?  We all want people to think of us as a person with grace of all kinds -- grace of movement, grace of spirit, and grace of living.  I have been luckier than most -- because for the last 10 years, I have had Grace living in my house, teaching me daily all the possible lessons that you might think about when you think of living with grace (and living with Grace). As I write this, we are walking through the final days of our little Grace's life.  And by the time I make this public so that you can read it…
Read More

Fifteen years, remembrance, and gratitude

This day is never an easy one for me.  I, like anyone who lived in Washington DC, or New York, or a little town in Pennsylvania called Shanksville, have my personal story to tell about that day.  That, however, is not the story I want to tell today as we remember the events of 15 years ago.  I want to tell you the story of a man whose name I do not know, a man working in a TSA line, in Columbus, OH. I was in Ohio (really in Gambier not in Columbus, but that was the nearest airport) to participate in the Kenyon Institute's Beyond Walls spiritual writing program.…
Read More

Today…

Today is my birthday.  We won't discuss how many of those there have been, but it is safe to say that this particular birthday should be special.  It is a birthday that very well might not have happened.  Or certainly might have happened in a very different way than finding me in the midst of my too-too-busy schedule running to that finish line known as graduation. I might not have been here to say:  I'm healthy (even if I can't really say that I'm happy) and moving and exercising and learning and loving and doing all the things that make up a life. And yet, I feel no desire, frankly…
Read More

Broken shards and forgiveness with a catchy beat…

And for days, my ear worm has been set on an old, old song from my days as a worship leader in a Unity School Church.  I had occasion in conversation to use a phrase that I don't use very often these days -- you are a beloved Child of God.  And that set off a firestorm of musical remembrance that has continued for days as every fiber of my being joins in the chorus of "I am the radiant life of God," written by Georgiana Tree West back in the 1930's at the beginnings of the Unity movement.  If you dare, you can listen to a great performance of…
Read More

Deep roots and remembrance…

Okay, I'll admit it.  I have an obsession with trees.  Wherever I go, I seek out the "local" tree -- that indigenous expression of what it takes to survive and thrive and have long life in that particular little piece of the planet.  I have countless pictures of giant sequoias, and yellow oak trees, and weeping willows, and red maples, and...well, you get the idea. I've just returned from a quick trip to Albuquerque, NM, and I had a chance to take some great pictures of cotton wood trees as I walked along the Paseo del Bosque, part of Albuquerque's great Open Space system.  Truth be told, I was surprised…
Read More

I will, with God’s help…

Seven years ago today, I was baptized into the community known as the Calvary Baptist Church.  Each year since then, on this date, I have taken time to reflect on that day and all that has followed, and generally, I've written something maybe meaningful, maybe...and shared it with all of you.  I really thought that I would let today pass without mention this year, but apparently that will not be the case. If there is any lesson that comes with living a few years, it is this -- that what we think to be constant and solid in our lives almost always proves to be as transitory as the dust…
Read More

Remembering joy…

Monday evening, I participated in the Service of Remembrance at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in my neighborhood.  The Service of Remembrance, or, as some call it, a "blue" service, is the seasonal service for "the rest of us" -- those of us who find the required mirth of the secular season difficult.  I am always surprised that so few people attend these services, because I know that there are so many who find this season challenging.  For me, it was an important time to stop and feel, to sit and pray, and to be with others in a like-hearted space. In one brief hour, whoever planned the service managed to…
Read More

A life (and death) with Grace

Grace.  We all want more of it, don't we?  We all want people to think of us as a person with grace of all kinds -- grace of movement, grace of spirit, and grace of living.  I have been luckier than most -- because for the last 10 years, I have had Grace living in my house, teaching me daily all the possible lessons that you might think about when you think of living with grace (and living with Grace). As I write this, we are walking through the final days of our little Grace's life.  And by the time I make this public so that you can read it…
Read More

Fifteen years, remembrance, and gratitude

This day is never an easy one for me.  I, like anyone who lived in Washington DC, or New York, or a little town in Pennsylvania called Shanksville, have my personal story to tell about that day.  That, however, is not the story I want to tell today as we remember the events of 15 years ago.  I want to tell you the story of a man whose name I do not know, a man working in a TSA line, in Columbus, OH. I was in Ohio (really in Gambier not in Columbus, but that was the nearest airport) to participate in the Kenyon Institute's Beyond Walls spiritual writing program.…
Read More

Today…

Today is my birthday.  We won't discuss how many of those there have been, but it is safe to say that this particular birthday should be special.  It is a birthday that very well might not have happened.  Or certainly might have happened in a very different way than finding me in the midst of my too-too-busy schedule running to that finish line known as graduation. I might not have been here to say:  I'm healthy (even if I can't really say that I'm happy) and moving and exercising and learning and loving and doing all the things that make up a life. And yet, I feel no desire, frankly…
Read More

Broken shards and forgiveness with a catchy beat…

And for days, my ear worm has been set on an old, old song from my days as a worship leader in a Unity School Church.  I had occasion in conversation to use a phrase that I don't use very often these days -- you are a beloved Child of God.  And that set off a firestorm of musical remembrance that has continued for days as every fiber of my being joins in the chorus of "I am the radiant life of God," written by Georgiana Tree West back in the 1930's at the beginnings of the Unity movement.  If you dare, you can listen to a great performance of…
Read More

Deep roots and remembrance…

Okay, I'll admit it.  I have an obsession with trees.  Wherever I go, I seek out the "local" tree -- that indigenous expression of what it takes to survive and thrive and have long life in that particular little piece of the planet.  I have countless pictures of giant sequoias, and yellow oak trees, and weeping willows, and red maples, and...well, you get the idea. I've just returned from a quick trip to Albuquerque, NM, and I had a chance to take some great pictures of cotton wood trees as I walked along the Paseo del Bosque, part of Albuquerque's great Open Space system.  Truth be told, I was surprised…
Read More

I will, with God’s help…

Seven years ago today, I was baptized into the community known as the Calvary Baptist Church.  Each year since then, on this date, I have taken time to reflect on that day and all that has followed, and generally, I've written something maybe meaningful, maybe...and shared it with all of you.  I really thought that I would let today pass without mention this year, but apparently that will not be the case. If there is any lesson that comes with living a few years, it is this -- that what we think to be constant and solid in our lives almost always proves to be as transitory as the dust…
Read More

Remembering joy…

Monday evening, I participated in the Service of Remembrance at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in my neighborhood.  The Service of Remembrance, or, as some call it, a "blue" service, is the seasonal service for "the rest of us" -- those of us who find the required mirth of the secular season difficult.  I am always surprised that so few people attend these services, because I know that there are so many who find this season challenging.  For me, it was an important time to stop and feel, to sit and pray, and to be with others in a like-hearted space. In one brief hour, whoever planned the service managed to…
Read More

A life (and death) with Grace

Grace.  We all want more of it, don't we?  We all want people to think of us as a person with grace of all kinds -- grace of movement, grace of spirit, and grace of living.  I have been luckier than most -- because for the last 10 years, I have had Grace living in my house, teaching me daily all the possible lessons that you might think about when you think of living with grace (and living with Grace). As I write this, we are walking through the final days of our little Grace's life.  And by the time I make this public so that you can read it…
Read More

Fifteen years, remembrance, and gratitude

This day is never an easy one for me.  I, like anyone who lived in Washington DC, or New York, or a little town in Pennsylvania called Shanksville, have my personal story to tell about that day.  That, however, is not the story I want to tell today as we remember the events of 15 years ago.  I want to tell you the story of a man whose name I do not know, a man working in a TSA line, in Columbus, OH. I was in Ohio (really in Gambier not in Columbus, but that was the nearest airport) to participate in the Kenyon Institute's Beyond Walls spiritual writing program.…
Read More

Today…

Today is my birthday.  We won't discuss how many of those there have been, but it is safe to say that this particular birthday should be special.  It is a birthday that very well might not have happened.  Or certainly might have happened in a very different way than finding me in the midst of my too-too-busy schedule running to that finish line known as graduation. I might not have been here to say:  I'm healthy (even if I can't really say that I'm happy) and moving and exercising and learning and loving and doing all the things that make up a life. And yet, I feel no desire, frankly…
Read More

Broken shards and forgiveness with a catchy beat…

And for days, my ear worm has been set on an old, old song from my days as a worship leader in a Unity School Church.  I had occasion in conversation to use a phrase that I don't use very often these days -- you are a beloved Child of God.  And that set off a firestorm of musical remembrance that has continued for days as every fiber of my being joins in the chorus of "I am the radiant life of God," written by Georgiana Tree West back in the 1930's at the beginnings of the Unity movement.  If you dare, you can listen to a great performance of…
Read More

Deep roots and remembrance…

Okay, I'll admit it.  I have an obsession with trees.  Wherever I go, I seek out the "local" tree -- that indigenous expression of what it takes to survive and thrive and have long life in that particular little piece of the planet.  I have countless pictures of giant sequoias, and yellow oak trees, and weeping willows, and red maples, and...well, you get the idea. I've just returned from a quick trip to Albuquerque, NM, and I had a chance to take some great pictures of cotton wood trees as I walked along the Paseo del Bosque, part of Albuquerque's great Open Space system.  Truth be told, I was surprised…
Read More

I will, with God’s help…

Seven years ago today, I was baptized into the community known as the Calvary Baptist Church.  Each year since then, on this date, I have taken time to reflect on that day and all that has followed, and generally, I've written something maybe meaningful, maybe...and shared it with all of you.  I really thought that I would let today pass without mention this year, but apparently that will not be the case. If there is any lesson that comes with living a few years, it is this -- that what we think to be constant and solid in our lives almost always proves to be as transitory as the dust…
Read More

Remembering joy…

Monday evening, I participated in the Service of Remembrance at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in my neighborhood.  The Service of Remembrance, or, as some call it, a "blue" service, is the seasonal service for "the rest of us" -- those of us who find the required mirth of the secular season difficult.  I am always surprised that so few people attend these services, because I know that there are so many who find this season challenging.  For me, it was an important time to stop and feel, to sit and pray, and to be with others in a like-hearted space. In one brief hour, whoever planned the service managed to…
Read More

A life (and death) with Grace

Grace.  We all want more of it, don't we?  We all want people to think of us as a person with grace of all kinds -- grace of movement, grace of spirit, and grace of living.  I have been luckier than most -- because for the last 10 years, I have had Grace living in my house, teaching me daily all the possible lessons that you might think about when you think of living with grace (and living with Grace). As I write this, we are walking through the final days of our little Grace's life.  And by the time I make this public so that you can read it…
Read More

Fifteen years, remembrance, and gratitude

This day is never an easy one for me.  I, like anyone who lived in Washington DC, or New York, or a little town in Pennsylvania called Shanksville, have my personal story to tell about that day.  That, however, is not the story I want to tell today as we remember the events of 15 years ago.  I want to tell you the story of a man whose name I do not know, a man working in a TSA line, in Columbus, OH. I was in Ohio (really in Gambier not in Columbus, but that was the nearest airport) to participate in the Kenyon Institute's Beyond Walls spiritual writing program.…
Read More

Today…

Today is my birthday.  We won't discuss how many of those there have been, but it is safe to say that this particular birthday should be special.  It is a birthday that very well might not have happened.  Or certainly might have happened in a very different way than finding me in the midst of my too-too-busy schedule running to that finish line known as graduation. I might not have been here to say:  I'm healthy (even if I can't really say that I'm happy) and moving and exercising and learning and loving and doing all the things that make up a life. And yet, I feel no desire, frankly…
Read More