Thinking and Seeing for Better Being
A Place to Stay Learning to Stay There are chairs that ask something of you.You perch.You lean forward.You stay alert. And then there are chairs that hold. The kind with arms.Wide enough to settle into.Stable enough that you stop checking your balance. I am learning the difference. Lately, I have noticed how quickly I move... Continue Reading →
A quiet return. An invitation to attention. A place to begin. I have been quiet here. Not because the words ran out,but because I did not want to add noisewhere attention was required. There are seasons when explaining feels productive.And there are seasons when explanation only protects the self. This has been the latter. So... Continue Reading →
Daily writing promptDescribe a man who has positively impacted your life.View all responses The Janitor Who Taught Me How to Listen If you were looking for one of the men who quietly shaped my life,you would not find him on a stage. You would find him unlocking doors,emptying garbage cans,caring for the grounds. I met... Continue Reading →
Are you more of a night or morning person? What a 3:30 A.M. Walk Taught Me About Being Instead of Doing People ask whether I am a night person or a morning person.The simple answer is that I wake early.The deeper answer is that morning keeps returning me to myself. One winter Friday around the... Continue Reading →
If you could meet a historical figure, who would it be and why? Choosing Paul, Learning from Saul, and Letting Christ Live Where It Matters Most I used to treat the question, “Which historical figure would you like to meet?”, like party trivia. Pick your favorite:Jesus (gold-star answer),Lincoln (safe),Rumi (mystic points),Van Gogh (artistic flex),or Da... Continue Reading →
Daily writing promptDo you trust your instincts?View all responses Do I Trust My Instincts? Grace with a trace of poison. Some days I want my instincts clean and whole, like the poison-dart frog I copied from a 2008 National Geographic—bright, unblinking, gripping its branch as if the whole forest depended on that small act of... Continue Reading →
Is there an age or year of your life you would re-live? A reflection on the year I would not re-live, but still return to. I would not step back into any year.Not one. But sometimes a year steps back into you. 1981 did that to me—by sliding quietly out of a manila folder in... Continue Reading →
Daily writing promptDo you need time?View all responses Do I Need Time? Only long enough to love what’s before me. I. The Stone That Laughs A century-old wink for the living. There’s a cemetery near our house where the stones tilt as if listening.Most are polished rectangles that do their quiet work—names, dates, a verse... Continue Reading →
Daily writing promptWhat historical event fascinates you the most?View all responses What Does It Mean to Be a Kid at Heart? (Chaos, Color, Calm, Calling) Maybe it begins in what we call chaos.We only call it that because we do not yet see the order.The brush does not ask for permission; it just moves. Chaos... Continue Reading →
Daily writing promptWhat are you most proud of in your life?View all responses Reflections on mercy, soil, and the slow work of grace. (A nod to my WordPress neighbor Ulrich, whose good question about mercy and justice stirred this reflection. Some neighbors plant flowers; others plant questions that keep blooming long after the conversation ends.)... Continue Reading →
Forming 2.0 