Shining Light into the Darkness
Gratitude & Peace Go Hand-in-Hand Gratitude is one of the surest ways to lasting peace. This is not simply a religious claim. A fairly recent interest by science is showing gratitude’s benefits in study after study. It increases psychological and physical health, increases life satisfaction, and counteracts things such as materialism, envy, narcissism, and cynicism. …
Listening with discernment rather than judgment is one of the greatest gifts we can give to each other. The difference between discernment and judgment is subtle but important. When listening with discernment, we recognize and understand the differences between what the speaker is saying and what we hold to be true. We respect their right to …
Shattered lives, prayers for peace Yesterday in Connecticut violence ripped through 27 families, a community, and the whole nation. Numb disbelief settles on us as we imagine the horror of mothers and fathers who wailed through the night for their little ones sent off to school to never return home again. Words are so inadequate. What comfort …
The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing. . . not healing, not curing. . . that is a friend who cares.” ~ Henri Nouwen A number of years ago, I …
When our eldest daughter was a senior in high school, we got two pieces of news two days before Easter. My daughter’s financial package for the college of her choice arrived with scholarship awards included (yeah!) and my husband was fired from his job as second in command of a mid-sized manufacturing company (ouch!). It …
My son Bradford has always been one of those wonderful old souls who has always been wise beyond his years. Now just past 30, he has managed one of life’s most emotionally wrenching experiences with grace and calm. And he’s come through it without resentments, no why me, nothing but acceptance of life as it is, in all its …