With coronavirus and the election dominating the headlines this fall, you may have, like me, missed the release of a major document in the ecumenical world. On October 4, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, Pope Francis released a new encyclical titled Fratelli tutti (Brothers all, or, Siblings all). Encyclicals carry the highest authority of papal teaching for the church, and this is the third and perhaps final from this pope.
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I wish it weren’t so, but it is and it seems to be increasing. A too regular companion of mine these days is anger. I am angry about the pandemic. I am angry about the contentious state of our country and the election. I am angry about darkness and cold coming. I am angry that my husband is no longer here to share this with me. And now I have a new one. I am angry that my daughter and her husband are not coming for Thanksgiving and I probably won’t see them till long into 2021.
I can intellectualize and say I understand why we are sequestered...
Beside my desk at home, I have a note written on a piece of paper that reads, “Concepts can change, but principles always stay the same.” “Always” is underlined. It came from a business-related seminar that I was attending but it resonated with me on a personal level. It was the fall of 2016 and I was struggling with mental health issues.
Since then, I have spent a considerable amount of time learning about me – “self-care” I believe is the current buzzword. I wake up early to meditate, read, journal, and do affirmations. I don’t do all of...
Or a special treat from Whit’s?
Once in 2018 and once in 2020 I bicycled a significant distance for a Whit’s treat. The main difference being the first time was both a greater distance than the second and the treat was a nice, geographically convenient add-on to the real reason for the trip (first two-day journey, carrying camping gear). The second time, Whit’s was the destination.
With Covid having cancelled events that practically define summer for me, I decided my Independence Day celebration in this novel (...
Luke 15:8-10: “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Three days ago I finished a 2000-piece puzzle. Well that isn’t quite true. I could not actually finish the puzzle because it was missing a piece. Now this...