There is a well-known experiment involving a group of ten monkeys, a ladder and bananas suspended from the ceiling. (Yes, this sounds like a joke; only without the Irish priest or the pub.)When the first monkey (headed for the bananas)…
Just for the record, “normal” has never been on my list of goals. Let alone an aspiration. Although, looking back, it would be easy to guess otherwise. I contorted myself to look the part. After all, what would they think?…
Change messes with us. I wish it weren’t so.You know, messes with the tidy (manageable and predictable) script we tote for mental security. About the way life should be.“Now, we need to think outside the box,” someone posted.“What box?” another…
It wasn’t church, but I sure said Amen a lot.In the Vashon theater, we watched “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” All we were missing was a spirited gospel choir.A dose of Mr. Rogers does my heart good. It is…
“I wish I read your Sabbath Moment before my meeting,” my friend, a hospice chaplain, tells me. “I was just with my hospice supervisor. Her question to me, ‘What are your long term goals?’” “I wanted to laugh out loud,” she…
"How shall I account for the two, or the ten, missing years on my résumé? How should I explain the gap?" These are questions asked of Dr. Kimberley Patton, by students at Harvard Divinity School, fretful and uneasy in the application…
A funny thing happened on my way to writing this week’s Sabbath Moment.I walked out of a Subway eatery, sandwich in hand. The sun’s warmth heaven-sent and calming. Creedence in my ear buds (“Who’ll Stop the Rain”). And a wave…
I try not to cry on airplanes. It’s not kosher. And, it looks eccentric.But when I watch movies or read books that tug at my heart, I cry. I used to be self-conscious about it. But not so much anymore.…
When your internal conversation begins, “I wish my life were different,” your headaches have only just begun. This is not a quarrel that will end well. You see, when I kick into my compulsion to fix, or figure out, or…
In 1995 Volkswagen ran an ad. The ad conjured up what it felt like to drive their car. Taking it around fast curves. Or over rocky desert roads. It felt liberating and precarious and unbound. What I do remember best are the…
