This week I’m getting ready to leave Sunday morning for Clergy Group with Ridiculous Name That Unfortunately Stuck. We’re meeting in Hip and Hilly, Texas and I can’t wait, but I have miles to go before that happens. Preparations involve writing two papers of 6-8 pages each about the texts for two Sundays in the […]

Since this is my kid memory book, I am taking a break from my break to post these:
1. Had a milestone moment yesterday: J bonked his head on something, and when I got up to comfort him, I saw C get to him first, giving him a big hug and speaking soothingly to him. For […]

So my aunt sent several people this video of a TED talk on “5 dangerous things you should let your kids do.” Play with fire, own a pocket knife, take appliances apart, and the like. The idea seems to be gaining traction from a lot of quarters, that keeping kids in a hermetically sealed bubble […]

So I was driving around listening to Studio 360 today and came upon a story that R had already heard and told me about.
If you’re interested in matters of technology, community and the generation gap, listen to it here, under “Suffering for Sufjan.”
Sufjan Stevens had a contest in which the winner would receive an original, […]

So I mentioned in my sidebar that C was on track in kindergarten but ahead in writing.
This morning at breakfast we told her that the family of one of her neighbor friends is being reassigned at the end of the year and they will be moving to another city. After asking a few questions to […]

I was listening to Speaking of Faith on the way to my spiritual director this morning, and John Kabat-Zinn was talking about the importance of helping kids learn to pay attention. Actually this is something they already know, and we can learn from them, but we can also help them have a greater awareness of […]

1. Kelley asked about my sabbatical grant proposal. (For those who don’t know, the Lilly Endowment awards grants of up to $50,000 to cover sabbatical expenses for the pastor and congregation.) It’s still taking shape, but I am thinking about centering on the theme of Story and Storytelling. I’d like to have some teaching sessions […]

Happy Rainy Monday!
I also want you to notice our grass, which looks the best it will look all year.
Saturday was gorgeous. Went to Trader Joe’s in the morning, a store at which I can drop $60 without breaking a sweat. Picked up some smoked salmon which we had for lunch outside on the deck. That […]

Some random things:
1. Monday I took the girls to Civil War Battlefield Park to tromp around on the muddy trail. We met some friends there who were much better equipped, with galoshes and such. I knew it would be soggy, so I brought changes of clothes and had them wear shoes I didn’t care about… […]

I love the show Speaking of Faith. My friend who knows Krista Tippett says she works like mad and that I really don’t want to be here, and yet… I still want to be her.
I’m listening to a podcast about the Exodus story, with Rabbi Avivah Zornberg talking about the story of Moses and the […]

And not just because of this:

Hat tip: Free to Be

We had a nice Easter, by and large. Worship, followed by delicious yet low-key dinner, time in the big chair with a magazine, family walk, and pizza for supper.
I found myself having a rather unorthodox thought during worship yesterday. We were reading one of the unison prayers and I thought, We should focus-group this language. […]

Today I took little she-who-is to tour the Home of Father of Our Country. I’ve only been there once before and it was cold and rainy. Today was gorgeous, and crowded, but not inconveniently so. One of the docents said that on the day before the inauguration they accommodated 16,000 “very happy” visitors.
C is […]

So this morning R was ribbing me for my “facebook addiction.” I realized how much I love facebook and google reader as ways to keep me connected on days when I’m home with kids.
So then I posted this question and rumination on my facebook:
If housewives in the ’50s had had social networking and the internet […]

There’s a road near my house that has got me quite puzzled,
The rules about right-of-way leave me bumfuzzled.
I’ve had this thing happen on more than one day.
Am I just a bad driver? Well, what do you say?
I drive in the right lane, which merges with left.
I turn on my signal and then start to drift.
When […]

Our life is so enriched by Free to Be, who is so much more than an occasional babysitter. She’s a wonderful friend and a Christ-like presence in our family.
I wrote this (sans pseudonyms) for her birthday. For this poem, she is F2, just so the meter works out. (Though that makes her sound like a […]

unedited, unfinished
i mumbled the passion story to myself
for most of saturday:
scraped food, loaded plates into the dishwasher
take; this is my body
spread mulch with a heavy rake
he threw himself on the ground and prayed
poured goldfish crackers, screwed on cup lids
they offered him wine mixed with myrrh
rocked a baby in the unseeing dark
the women saw where […]

Every year I have this crazy idea to write a poem a day during National Poetry Month. Ah well, April 3—too late this time.
The only way it is possible is to write really really quickly and not edit. And so…

He pushed the stroller up the sidewalk,
putting his back into it;
it was a heaving protest […]

1. I am learning by heart the passion story for worship this weekend, Mark 14 and 15. It’s been a very cool process. I am realizing that memorizing texts might be the only thing I have to do with absolute complete attention. Sure, it’s possible to do other things with that same attentiveness, but learning […]