Let’s not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God.

Olive was there every day—spirited, playful, innocent. That was her gift. She got them through.

It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly—that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp.”

To borrow from one of the many movies we've watched, "life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

Nearly sixty-five Sundays ago, late March 2020, I was terrified.

Friends and connections made, both among my fellow volunteers and clients, counterbalanced my solitude resulting from the required quarantine, and will remain with me long after this 'masked time'. But, perhaps the greatest rewards for me are the expressions of thanks and gratitude received for the bit part my contributions made to the entire operation.

Practice Resurrection…What are we going to do with all this future?... Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder…O God don’t teach me nothing new today! …Sometimes volunteering is as simple as reaching out to accept a gift given to you…and always—Blah, blah blah, Love!

Out of the silence let the only real news come, which is sad news before it is glad news and that is fairy tale last of all. The preacher is not brave enough to be literally silent for long, and since it is his calling to speak the truth with love, even if he were brave enough, he would not be silent for long because we are none of us very good at silence. It says too much.

Love never fails. While 2020 proved to be an incredibly challenging year, I found myself waking up each day and reciting this verse.

Wednesday, March 18, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. I did my first Zoom psychotherapy session. If you had asked me the week before if I would ever offer psychotherapy in this way I would have said an emphatic “no!” There were two main reasons: one, I knew nothing about telehealth and did not consider myself very tech savvy, and two, insurance did not reimburse the same amount for an in-person session versus a video or phone session, so there was really no motivation to learn. And then the pandemic changed everything.

Don’t look back, there are just too many wonderful moments lying ahead- and I truly hope that I don’t ever take them for granted again.

This does not mean that liking may not be a part of loving, only that it doesn't have to be. Sometimes liking follows on the heels of loving. It is hard to work for people's well-being very long without coming in the end to rather like them too.

May you find the blessing of low volume as a silver lining of the pandemic.

This community has held each other up during a most challenging time and I believe we have come through it with connections that are actually stronger and more resilient. Grace abounds and there is much work to do.

Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning

That is at one with your life's desire.

Friday, June 6, 2021 | Regathering: A New Beginning | Video: What to expect

It is rusty around the edges and a little battered, and it is also as holy a relic as I have ever seen.

We need that sense of belonging, of being able to come together as a group, and I am looking forward to many “SIT DOWN MEALS” in the near future!

“I’m starved.” This thought really struck home one day at CT. One of our guests asked for two lunches. Because we don’t ask questions on how many lunches a guest needs, we just gave him two lunches. After he sat in the parking lot and devoured these lunches, he came back and asked for another, commenting that this was the first food he had eaten in three days.

O God, whose days are without end, and whose mercies cannot be numbered, draw near to all who mourn the loss of those near and dear to them. In the midst of their deep sorrow grant them the comfort of your presence. Give them faith to feel the calm assurance of your mercy and to know the blessing of your peace that passes all understanding. In your most holy name we pray. Amen.