Merry Christmas!

Blog, Spirituality

The ancient story retold again and again and again through the centuries, conveyed via comic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeVDOu2_Fuc) and cosmos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMMkWvGz9jI and https://www.actionnewsnow.com/content/links/Watch-Live-See-the-Great-Conjunction-Christmas-Star-of-2020-573451941.html), enlivens us anew THIS Christmas Day, 2020! The very energy that stirred people over 2000 years ago to travel to see and celebrate the radiant birth of Jesus still fascinates and animates us today.…

Finding the Light of Christmas

Blog, Community, Spirituality

I’ll admit it—I love the over-the-top-ness of Christmas. I love finding—or even better, making—the perfect gifts for family, friends and coworkers. I enjoy watching cheesy holiday movies on the Hallmark channel as I wrap presents in shimmering paper, ribbons and homemade gift tags. I love seeing the light displays in my neighborhood as we take…

Ghosts That Haunt Us, Ghost Stories That Make Us Whole

Blog, Spirituality

The idea of ghosts may give us goosebumps. “Ghosts” are spirits. The etymological derivation is interesting: Ghost < Old English gast, breath, and < proto West Germanic, gaistaz; source also of Old Saxon gest, Old Frisian jest, Middle Dutch gheest, Dutch geest, German Geist “spirit, ghost.” This is conjectured to be from a PIE root gheis-, used in forming words involving the notions…

Abiding in God

Blog, Spirituality

This beautiful time of the year, we celebrate and ritualize lots of wonderful endings and new beginnings. Some hearts are comforted by the scripture story of the Nativity scene, the birth of a new baby to a man and woman accompanied by resting sheep, donkey and “lowly cattle” enveloped on a beautiful starry night. Jesus…

The Light in Everyone

Blog, Spirituality

The winter solstice is coming up on Monday, Dec. 21. This is the shortest day and the longest night of the year and the first official day of winter. As I ponder this special time of year both seasonally and spiritually, I am holding a beautiful song in my heart called The Longest Night of…

The Sign of the Babe

Blog, Community, Spirituality

“And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” —Luke 2:12, New American Bible The signs of the times are all around us. They offer a message that’s open to interpretation and they also call us to respond in some way. Sometimes it…