Daily Grace, Presence

Easter Shadows

April 6, 2024

I’m a little glad that we got past Easter last week, because I wasn’t feeling Eastery before the actual day, and I didn’t feel Eastery on the actual day, and I haven’t started feeling Eastery in the days since, either. Apparently, I am decidedly in an un-Eastery frame of mind. Is there such a thing as being Scrooge-ish about Easter? Bah humbug to the bunny cakes and jelly beans, marshmallow peeps and egg hunts. Humbug to it all.

I am trusting that Jesus is not shaking his head and sighing because I did not work myself up into an appropriate state of rejoicing last Sunday. It is a relief that Jesus loves me anyway, even if I am crabby on his special resurrection celebration day. Not that Easter wasn’t a nice day last week. My son was still home for spring break, and his Dad joined us for lunch at our favorite Indian buffet for our special Easter meal. We had naan and butter chicken, chai and chana masala. It was delicious. Later that afternoon, I went to a belated birthday party for my good neighbor with tea, chocolate cake, almond cookies, and three kinds of ice cream.

Yes. It was a fine day.

I love Tony Campolo’s “It’s Friday. But Sunday’s Comin'” sermon. I’ve heard it many times. Some years, Easter has dawned that way, a miraculous day when everything is finally made right. Hope blows in on a fresh breeze, and I can smell it, almost even taste it. Maybe the years when I found out around Easter that I was pregnant and would be having a baby when the New Year rolled around. That was a brighter season. Or the years when my Mom and Dad were alive, and we would have family Easter dinners together after church and take pictures in our new Sunday dresses in their front yard by their blooming rhododendrons. Continue Reading…

Presence, Security

Fertile Void

March 23, 2024

Spring officially arrived this week.

Outside, anyway. The daffodils and hyacinths are blooming in my front yard, but it is still winter inside me.

I was hoping that I would have gotten over this by now. I first wrote about not feeling very spring-like a few weeks ago. It would have been nice if the official arrival of spring flipped me right into a brighter mood, like it came with an automatic easy switch.

It’s just going to take a little more time.

One of my dear friends is very ill. Still. And other parts of my life that have been stable for decades are shifting, and I’m not sure how it’s all going to work out.

I had a fortunate encounter this week, though, with one of my good neighbors. I often run into her and her three dogs while walking around town. It always makes my day (and Biscuit’s day, too, since one of her dogs is one of his best friends). She had just returned from an in-service where she learned about Gestalt Therapy and shared some things that were helpful. I’m not quoting her exactly (or at all), and I might be remembering parts of our conversation wrong, but this is what I took away: Continue Reading…