New Blog Post An Aversion to Sadness Posted by beth4277, 3 A few days ago, I found myself distracted by a question that we frequently ask when offering the Spiritual Location Exercise to spiritual direction clients and retreatants: “What are your prevailing emotions?” The question was rhetorical. I already knew the answer. Sadness. I felt sad. So sad that I couldn’t read or think about anything else. So I did what I often do. I created a mind map that helped capture the topog

A few days ago, I found myself distracted by a question that we frequently ask when offering the Spiritual Location Exercise to spiritual direction clients and retreatants: “What are your prevailing emotions?” The question was rhetorical. I already knew the answer. Sadness. I felt sad. So sad that I couldn’t read or think about anything else. So I did what I often do. I created a mind map that helped capture the topography of my sadness. I wrote previously about the events

This is our 6th year taking a July sabbatical from our work. In anticipation of the time, I imagined myself sitting for long hours on the dock at the Lily Pad (our tiny cabin in SW Michigan), or on chilly mornings snuggled under an electric blanket on the screened porch, reading and reflecting deeply about life. Little did I know that my bucolic visions would not become reality. On July 5th, just before we were to head to Traverse City, MI, to meet our daughters for

For several years, I worked as a contract consultant for an organization created and funded by the Lilly Endowment. During a staff meeting one day, we discussed the interfaith and ecumenical nature of our work. The President asked us if we knew why the Endowment emphasized a commitment to this scope. I’m guessing we all thought it was because religious pluralism was a value. Tim surprised us when he said, “No. It’s because the Lilly family believes that hospitality is a disti

True confessions. I have a strong proclivity for order. No matter where I am or who I am with, I naturally (and sometimes compulsively) seek to create or recreate order. I suppose I come by it naturally. I learned order from my orderly mother. I’m a “J” on the Myers-Briggs, i.e., someone who prefers structure and order. I raised four children who were less than six years apart. Establishing order was a necessity in our lively household! Even so, I still get lots of things o

Today is the most celebratory worship experience in the liturgical calendar, Easter Sunday! In our church, we initially gather outside around a bonfire with noisemakers in hand, while a presider bangs loudly on the church door three times, saying, “Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors! That the King of glory may come in.” Then, from inside the building, a voice queries: “Who is the King of glory?” And the presider shouts, “The LORD, he is the King o