Today is Ash Wednesday. More than 70 Episcopal parishes in 18 states will bring Ash Wednesday to the streets, kicking off the Lenten season with a twist.They’ll offer the Christian sign of repentance — a smudged cross of ashes on the forehead — to anyone who seeks it in train...
Sliding Doors
posted by Shari Lacy
One of the creepiest mistakes I ever made was getting off at the wrong subway stop, at the wrong time of day, while traveling by myself when I lived in New York City. I was making my way from Upstate NY where my husband (then boyfriend) attended college, to my home closer to the city and we...
The Experience
posted by Glenn Simmons
Growing up in a traditional American, Southern, Christian culture, my way of relating to God, was through prayer, church attendance, listening to my elders and reading the Bible. Those were the paths of connection offered. That is how we showed love, gratitude and need, to and for God....
Eternal Ideas
posted by Aaron Manes
I have lived a lot of my life on a face value level. I hope that if you know me personally you would see me live out what I profess as belief. I have always hoped this for other people also and honestly I have an expectation of it. This has caused me some pain over the years because I...
New Eyes
posted by Barbara Wyer
It was sometime during the fourth grade that my ten-year-old nose was coerced into cohabitating with a pair of spectacles. At least that’s the year they began showing up in school pictures, little pink cat eyes that made me look perpetually shell-shocked. I hated wearing them, and finally...
Grace and the Superb...
posted by Clint Ribble
I was born just south of Green Bay, Wisconsin. When someone asks me where I’m from, depending on his or her geographical perspective, I sometimes simply say, “Green Bay.” Because, let’s face it, who hasn’t heard of Green Bay? This place of birth makes me a genetic Green Bay Packer...
The path to quiet
posted by Glenn Simmons
I am a seeker and a questioner. I am a songwriter and a reader of some moderate scale. I live in a town where many make their living on words. I am drawn to those that think and question. I am drawn to those that while they respect and even have a fondness for traditions, they are not bound by...
Shut up and Listen
posted by Barbara Wyer
Last Friday afternoon I was tearing around the house like a bat out of hell, tossing things in a suitcase helter-skelter and keeping one eye on the clock. I had an appointment with God in western Tennessee. In a moment of weakness, I’d signed up for a guided silent retreat at a convent somewhere on the way to Memphis. All I knew is that it was two and a half hours from Franklin and it didn’t take second grade math to figure out that I was leaving too late to arrive on time. Sigh! Not the best way to begin my weekend of retreat from manic modernity to silent listening. Welcome to my world. Too much to do – good things, most of...
Inconvenient Trees 3
posted by Aaron Manes
Part 3: The Tree of Life The wilderness, the unknown, the future – these are the things that trouble us throughout our lives. For many of us this existence is a scary thing. We try not to think about it so much but sometimes we can’t help it – or at minimum I can’t help it. So...
Fear: The other four...
posted by Glenn Simmons
It seems that once fear is introduced into the fabric of our lives, then it always resides there in some fashion. One definition I found of fear is “A distressing emotion aroused by a perceived threat”. Shew, there sure is a lot of room for interpretation with that one. Is there a...