Standing in Love
This month we celebrate Valentine’s Day, and last Sunday we heard 1 Corinthians 13 about love. So some thoughts about love are in order. Let’s skip over sentimental and romantic love and focus on Dorothy Day’s kind. She often quoted Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov: “Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams.” When my father was dying, from his hospital bed he held out his hands and said, “These showed my love for you.” My dad was a factory worker who worked night shift. His hands were calloused, and often he had a fingernail that was black and blue. He never told me he loved me, but I knew it. In my family we were not demonstrative about our feelings for one another. My mother had nine brothers and sisters. I once overheard her say, “We didn’t hug and kiss or say ‘I love you,’ but we would die for each other.” (more…)
To Create Is to Live
You may have noticed that “Featured Book” in my blog’s sidebar announces my new book of arts and crafts. It’s a resource book especially for religion teachers, but any teacher (or parent) will find it useful. The book has led me to think about what it means to create. Echoing my thoughts, the other night in a commercial the fashion designer Ralph Lauren said that creating something brings great satisfaction. Using our brains, our imaginations and skills, to produce something new is exhilarating and makes us proud of ourselves. (more…)
A Smile: Sign of the Spirit
An old riddle asks, “What is the longest word in the dictionary”? In case you don’t remember, the answer is smiles because there is a mile between the beginning and end. I’ve been reflecting on how a smile goes a long way in making a difference in others’ lives and in our own. How uplifting it is when the clerk in the checkout line smiles at you or when a total stranger smiles and greets as you pass on the street. Mother Teresa said, “Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.” Oddly, when we smile, we feel better. It elevates our mood. That’s why a 1927 song advises, “Let a smile be your umbrella.” A smile can see us through dark and rainy days. Why do you think smiley faces became so popular? (more…)
Let Something New Renew You
While reading a historical fiction book, the thought occurred to me that I could write something like that. Now, I’ve written dozens of nonfiction books but never a novel. For me this would be a novel experience! (Sorry, couldn’t resist that pun.) But could I do it? As I plunged into the project, I discovered that it was exhilarating. I would become so wrapped up in the imagined people and events that when I “came to” I didn’t know if it was morning, afternoon, or night. I managed to finish the novel last week, in time for entering a contest with a January 31 deadline. This contest had 600-plus entries last year, so the odds are against me. Yet even if I don’t win, even if the book never gets published, the process was worth it. (more…)
Absentminded or Mindful?
The other day as I was backing out of the driveway to go to church, my purse was missing. I parked, went into the house, and looked for the purse with no luck. Then I remembered that on the way to car I dumped some recyclables into the bin. Sure enough, when I lifted the lid, there was my purse on the bottom of the green container, which is almost as tall as I am. I jerked the bin out of the ice, tilted it onto the ground, and crawled in to retrieve my purse, hoping the neighbor wasn’t watching. This incident made me realize that I need to pay more attention to what I am doing. (more…)
