I don’t believe in destiny. Seems hokey to me.
However.
My grandmother had four children: two girls, then two boys.
My mother had four children: two girls, then two boys, with three years, two years, and two years between them.
I have two girls and a boy, with three years, then two years between them.
Is the writing on […]

Gentle Readers!
I am working on a proposal for Denominational Magazine for a series of ten articles that will explore scriptural themes as illuminated in children’s literature. I have a few books in mind, namely Because of Winn-Dixie and one or more Madeleine L’Engle books, but I need some other ideas, especially current books.
If you […]

So I am planning to submit a poem to the Merton Institute for Contemplative Living, which is having a poetry contest. From their website:
…Poetry that expresses, directly or indirectly, a sense of the holy or that, by its mode of expression, evokes the sacred. The tone may be religious, prophetic, or contemplative… Poems will be […]

plan worship for all-saints’ Sunday, write sermon (I’m preaching on Zacchaeus!)
finish article for Fidelia’s Sisters
work on small grant application due December 31
write and revise Denominational Magazine article due November 1
get a jump on DM article due December 1 because, well you know
National Crankypants Newsletter article
write two book reviews for blog
And that’s just the writing to-do […]

I went to hear Ann Patchett at the National Cathedral on Tuesday. She was speaking on creativity, her process of writing, and how the experience of writing fiction intersects with “real life.”
A few things that stuck out (quotes are approximate, it’s just easier to write in first person):
She didn’t know a thing about opera before […]

Wow, the idea of “time” is enough of an interest of mine that it warrants its own blog category. And the title “it’s about time” has been used at least once before on these pages.
Anyway, what I pitched to the editors of Denominational Magazine is a series of ten articles exploring different scriptural perspectives on […]

I don’t want to talk about It anymore.
I don’t really want to hear about It either.
Predictable people are lining up in predictable ways, predictably.
The dots that follow are not in ignorance of the pain; indeed, I can’t even listen to the news without crying; this is just an effort to think about something else.

I’m so […]

So I received a $100 check for the little piece I wrote for World Famous Newspaper. It’s not the first time I’ve received a check for something I wrote, but it’s the first time the check has come from an entity that the average person has probably heard of. (i.e. Homiletics Magazine is not exactly […]

I promised C that I would play with her. So this’ll be quick.
I preached this weekend, after a very full week. I feel like the undead, though I’m hopped up on Dr. Pepper. R also happens to be sick, so the girls were with me all.day yesterday (dragged along to a brunch at a church […]

Yes, this is blog post number 666.
Today at Church
Today was one of those Days of Snafus. The lay leader forgot the unison prayer of confession and went straight from the silent prayer to the assurance of pardon. Later he forgot to serve the cup to someone waiting at the end of the line with her […]

Cary Tennis writes an advice column for Salon.com that is sometimes interesting. Two letters this week have dealt with writing. Today’s letter was from a person who says s/he is invigorated by writing but has a fear of being published. This is part of his reply:
Writing and publishing are two different things. They can be […]

Lent Disciplines
I have done a variety of things for Lent. Some years I have given up chocolate, other years TV. One year I gave up worry; I got a lot out of that, though I lapsed often.
Other years I take on something additional. This year I will be doing morning pages (three pages of free-flow […]

I started to respond to the previous post’s comments, but it got too long.
The “writing as spiritual practice” thing will not be a class so much as a small group that I will facilitate. Because, what do I know about writing as a spiritual practice other than, yes, it is?! Or can be.
I am really […]

I don’t normally post entire articles outright, but this was a good one from Anna Quindlen in Newsweek.
Write for Your Life
Wouldn’t all of us love to have a journal, a memoir, a letter, from those we have loved and lost? Shouldn’t all of us leave a bit of that behind?
Jan. 22, 2007 issue […]

…I feel pressure to have something worthwhile to say!
Perhaps some dots.

The divine miss m continues to be fever-free. That 103 thing was just a blip, I guess? She is really working on molars 3 and 4 though. Woke up at 1 a.m. (six hours after Motrin) with the intermittent, self-pitying pain cry. “I’m doing my […]

Last night I got an e-mail from the editor of a second mama-related e-zine asking whether I’d gotten the e-mail a couple of months ago saying that they’d accepted two poems for their website. Well no, I hadn’t, although it’s possible my bizarro-world spam filter ate them up. So two pieces will be up on […]

Today’s “take back your time” makeup day was a series of very low-level fiascoes, such as R offering to pick up C at preschool only to discover that there was no carseat in his car… my going to the hospital to visit someone who turned out to be in the other hospital across town… stuff […]