A mountain top experience(ish)

I just spent nearly a full week at a continuing education opportunity for Presbyterian pastors sponsored by our Board of Pensions. The goal of these events is to nurture physical, financial, emotional and spiritual health. There was a presentation on eating right,...

Behind the font of blessings

Music is certainly an important part of our worship experience and also in our faith development. Often there are hymns that I have heard/sung a 100 times, but never really paid attention to the lyrics or the story behind them. Recently I have been listening to and...

Getting to the roots

A week ago, I participated in a training with the Racial Equity Institute which is located here in Greensboro. Their approach is unlike any I have experienced before. It helped me begin to think more deeply about how we can affect lasting change in people’s lives. On...

Forming the Question

At our women’s retreat I was asked to lead a workshop on spiritual discernment. As it turns out, I needed the workshop perhaps more than any of the participants. (I should not be surprised that the Holy Spirit speaks through Donna Chase’s requests!) Spiritual...

New Year – Day 16

So, how is 2023 going for you? Did you make resolutions or set goals for the new year? How successful have you been so far? 92% of people who set New Year’s goals never actually achieve them. I know because I have been in that 92% more than once! This year my family...

A deeper sense of hope

A family friend texted my mom recently saying she is praying for my husband and me as we prepare for the upcoming birth of our child, praying for the joy of new birth and for the bits of uncertainty that currently exist in the world. She wrote that she couldn’t help...

No Regrets

It was a full flight. We’d received the instructions to put personal items beneath the seat, keep our coats with us (we were headed from Toronto to Halifax, coats weren’t optional), and volunteer to check our carry on if we were boarding in a higher numbered zone. I’d...

Undecorated, still beloved

Last week, I went to a Christmas party at a friend’s house. It is an annual event with a big group of girlfriends who have journeyed through life together for many years now. We greeted each other with hugs. We had some drinks and yummy food. At some point, our friend...

What was the best Christmas you remember?  Be honest! 

This is how I started the class I recently taught about spiritual health during the holidays. This time of year is taken up with a lot of stressful, seasonal activity and the expectations that come with it. What might happen if we thought about Christmas in a new way?...

Hitting the snooze button, one more time ….

Ever had a plan to get up at a certain time to go exercise, or get some things done around the house before the day really begins? Then the alarm goes off, and the bed, where you are, as they say, snug as a bug in a rug, and you don’t want to move. So you hit the...