Spirituality
To Go Gently, Or Not? Thoughts on Impermanence
I have a dear friend, Mark, who may be one of the most compassionate, kind, and intelligent people I know. He is also very tall and absurdly handsome. (How he will guffaw if he reads that last bit!) He tells many interesting stories, and this is one of them: Once, back when he was a…
Read MoreMary Oliver, Brother Phap Dung, and Small White Dogs (My Dog Is Dying, Part III)
A NOTE TO READERS….. The title of this blog says almost everything. I will add a few things, though. This time is EXCRUCIATING. So much so that I will not be answering phone calls for the foreseeable future. Answering emails will be touch and go… and forgive me if you comment on this series of…
Read MoreMy Dog Is Dying (Part II)
A NOTE TO READERS….. The title of this blog says almost everything. I will add a few things, though. This time is EXCRUCIATING. So much so that I will not be answering phone calls for the foreseeable future. Answering emails will be touch and go… and forgive me if you comment on this series of…
Read MoreTea and Sympathy? Mercy #2
Recently I was asked to talked about EVEN SO with my friend Sr. Rita Woehkle at the Trenton Free Public Library. (You can click here to watch/listen. Sr. Rita says many wonderful things.) In talking about the book again, I found myself thinking about mercy in the context of the narrative. How Angela is shown…
Read MoreThis Year, Justice And Mercy #1
After not getting to sleep until 3 am (thank you, neighbors, who love fireworks and guns), I woke up groggy this New Year morning, but with the word ‘mercy’ echoing through my mind. Why? Not sure, but it may have to do with a comet, a pig, and a mouse. (More later.) I’m trying to…
Read MoreA Place In the World
Soon, my seventh novel, Even So will be born into the world. It’s almost here, or rather, it is here, insofar as my part of the labor is done, and it’s off in the capable hands of publishing midwives. This is always an anxious time, since the world proves itself crueler and less understanding with every…
Read MoreMael Brigde, Tending Brigid’s Flame
Today I’m delighted to offer you this guest blog by my friend, Mael Brigide. Mael is a writer, poet, thinker, devotee of the Irish goddess/saint Brigid. As those of you who come here regularly know, I am always interested in matters of faith, especially when they coincide with literature. Mael’s journey to a place of faith…
Read MoreLove In The Time Of Covid
It’s like traveling to a foreign country, where you know absolutely no one, are confused about the customs, and don’t speak the language. If you are a couple, well, here you are, just the two of you (and kids and dogs and cats and Zoom and portents of doom), coming face-to-face with all the things…
Read MoreEven So …. #21
Day ? of the pandemic. A robin builds a next to the bedroom window; a wren builds a nest by my office door, a chickadee builds a nest by the windchimes hanging from the arbor, in spite of everything. A big old watersnake guards its territory by the creek bank and startles me so that…
Read MoreEven So…. #20
Someone asked me, Why don’t you name your blog by the number of days you’ve been in isolation? Snort. I wish I could remember, even so. Or, maybe I don’t. Maybe there’s something lovely about just living in one moment. This one. And then This one. It’s a spiritual thing. But make no mistake, I…
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