What are the most favorite Christmas carols? That is a dangerous question, isn’t it? There are all sorts of variables that lead to various answers, even arguments. And probably directs the conversation to controversial answers depending on our tastes, cultures, settings and moods. Each December certain carols I want to hear: O Come O Come Emmanuel, O Holy Night, and of course Silent Night by candlelight on Christmas Eve. Over the radio I sing along with It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas, Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas and I’ll Be Home for Christmas. Confession: I want to hear at least once: I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas. OOO, there are so many and too many to mention! Did you know December 20 is Go Caroling Day? I haven’t seen as many carolers in the past few years and wonder if that tradition is dying out. A victim of Covid? I hope not. I did read that a Pew research study showed in 2013 that nearly 80% of Americans put up Christmas trees and 65% of … [Read more...]
Four Somethings – December 2025
Can you believe it is December already? I love the end of the year – all the fun, closure, celebrations, candlelights, worship, special moments, family get-togethers, and those clear winter nights when the stars are especially twinkling bright. A good time to pause and reflect and gather what makes life sweet. What are you savoring right now? I call these occasional sacred spaces my Four Somethings when I reflect on things I have read, seen, and experienced that enriched my life. I collect these bits of wisdom into four categories: Something Wise One of my favorite Mary Oliver poems: Don’t HesitateIf you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,don't hesitate. Give in to it.There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be.We are not wise, and not very often kind.And much can never be redeemed.Still, life has some possibility left.Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimessomething happens better than all the richesor power in the world.It could … [Read more...]
Christmas Card Day
Do you still send Christmas cards? Each year it seems like less people are mailing them. Probably due to the cost. Maybe the time involved. Perhaps we just don’t appreciate the practice anymore. Are we lazy? Is it time for this tradition to die? I hope not. December 9 is Christmas Card Day – did you know that? In my house Thanksgiving weekend is when the cards come out though and I begin organizing them, signing them and jotting quick notes. I get out a basket to gather the new ones I receive in the mail. I tenderly reread all of them after Christmas with the practice of saying a new year prayer for each of the people who took the time to remember our family as I remember them once again. I do love this tradition. Christmas cards bring back memories. My mom would put them on our mantel and tape them on the door frames. Sometimes we would take family photos for our cards marking the various growth of each child and passing of major milestones. Still today I love to … [Read more...]
Advent Begins
Advent begins November 30 and in the rush to get things done for the Christmas season our spirit cries out to slow down and pay attention to what is important and what is the true reason for the season. Don’t forget to savor the sacred moments. Breathe in silence. Sit in silence. Sing carols. Ponder the manger. Read slowly about the birth of Christ. Look deeply into the hearts of your friends and family. Listen to the sounds of the season. Read an Advent devotional. I would be amiss not to mention the devotional I wrote a few years ago, Christmas Crossroads, 30 Devotionals for the Holiday Season. Here are some quotes to bless your Advent season: “For outlandish creatures like us, on our way to a heart, a brain, and courage, Bethlehem is not the end of our journey but only the beginning – not home but the place through which we must pass if ever we are to reach home at last.”― Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat “At this Christmas when Christ comes, will He find a … [Read more...]
Walking Year Long with a LampLighter
I like the term Lamplighter. I learned this word from wisdom teacher mystic Cynthia Bourgeault who described the spiritual teachers in her life – both ancient and contemporary – as lamplighters, those lighting the way for her path. Isn’t that a cool way of describing people of faith? I love this word and have learned like electric wires lamplighters bringing light into my soul, I too have lamplighters, even a few high-tension ones that boost my spirit beyond the ordinary. Highly charged lamplighters for me are Henri Nouwen, Teresa of Avilla, and Barbara Brown Taylor. In 2003 in my first class to become a spiritual director, they encouraged us to choose (or did that person choose us?) one person to “walk” with for the next three years. We would read about that person, their story, and their spiritual journey. How did faith shape their life? How did they discern which way to go? What worked and what didn’t? We read what others wrote about that person and if … [Read more...]
Rereading Courage – What Have I Learned?
Courage is my word of the year and yet here I am in November wondering if I am really any more courageous or not. Has this word made a difference in my soul? What have I learned? Have I wasted my time? So today I reread all my posts and quotes from the start of 2025, pondering once again this curious word that chose me. Here are gifts Courage gave me this year that surprised me the most. I am sure other lessons will continue to unfold but these are just a few. What do you think? And I will be traveling next week so there will be a one week break from posting here until I get return home and into the routine of writing once again. Blessings! … [Read more...]
Imagining the Bleachers
Are you sitting in the bleachers or in the arena? This image intrigues me. Fellow blogger and friend Lisa wrote a few weeks ago about her recurring dream where she sits in the bleachers watching a game. You can and I hope you do go read her entire post here: Lisa writes, “When I’m a spectator in the bleachers, I have no control over how the game is played. I can’t advise the players. I can’t referee the calls. I can only sit and watch… But not every game is ours to play.” Her words really moved me and the image of sitting in the bleachers as the world, our culture spins out of control resonated deeply with me. That image prompted my imagination and kept recurring into my prayers. It clung to my thoughts. What are our roles in this age of so much upheaval? And are we called just to sit in the bleachers? Maybe we can also be the refs? The photographers on the sidelines? A cheerleader? Can I even leave the game if I don’t like the score? See how her image got my … [Read more...]
Deep Listening
I sat around their kitchen table as they shared tear-filled stories about their wife/mother. We were gathered to plan her funeral service. The room filled with family, warmed by the afternoon sun and lots of love and wrapped with both sorrow, memories and laughter. A bittersweet meeting. I asked a few questions but most of the time I listened. I observed how they looked around, savoring the present moment they now held with each other, realizing how precious life and time is. They thanked me for listening, yet I felt they gave me a gift. They reminded me how important listening to one another can be for healing, comfort, and insight. Listening builds bridges and repairs relationships. Deep listening is also essential for listening to our own soul, for listening to ourselves too. What happens when we listen to ourselves? As a spiritual director I often encourage directees to listen deeply to their own voices, their desires, their hungers. To name them. Many … [Read more...]