An eleven-year-old girl lived with her grandmother. Labeled "different," adjustment to school was not easy. Her mother was not a reliable presence. As if life is not tough enough, her father had been recently killed. She knew him only vaguely,…
Ted Shawn, a young seminarian called to the ministry, was stricken with polio. Somewhere deep inside, he heard another, although very unlikely voice, calling him to dance.So. That's what Ted Shawn did. With great difficulty, he quit divinity school and…
This morning on my walk, I stop at the pasture fence and stand for a good while. The sheep, lying in the grass, are huddled under a large fir tree. Finally, one asks, “What’s up?”“I have a soft heart. And…
Life stretches us all. Sometimes to the breaking point.Needing a story (with an infusion of hope), my mind gratefully retreats to an unseasonably cool night at Vashon’s Red Bike Restaurant. It is packed with patrons, for a local fundraiser auctioning…
Some stories are told.Some stories are portals to transformation.When my spirit takes a hit, the piles on my desk can wait, and I settle in to watch As it is in Heaven. The story takes us on one man's journey…
On my walk this morning, I tell the sheep about reading an article, “Keep Your Sanity with the Personal Craziness Index,” and that I took the index and had a high score and that it didn’t surprise me but unnerved me a…
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)…
Brené Brown tells the story of meeting a young woman at a media conference. She is excited to meet the woman (an accountant / jeweler) because she had bought a beautiful pair of earrings from the woman's online store."How long…
Very early this morning, I was serenaded by a great horned owl.I close my eyes, smile real big, and let the cares of the world (those that clamor and gnaw), gratefully recede.It sounds as if he (she) is right outside…
I had zero planned for Sabbath Moment, and at wits end, until Emma Thompson read me a poem. Well, it may not have been just for me, but it sure felt like it.She read Kindness, by Naomi Shihab Nye. One…
