Leading up to the third Sunday of Advent this year, I kept thinking about the 2006 movie “The Pursuit of Happyness.” The movie stars Will Smith as Chris Gardner, an aspiring entrepreneur and sales person who gets an opportunity to do an unpaid stockbroker internship...
She was my great grandmother, Canceda Reed, responsible for my patent leather shoes and annual Easter bonnet. She is the one who made sure I was properly prepared for Saturday afternoon church teas in the basement with mints, butterscotch and a balled up dollar in my...
I was 7 or 8 years into my yoga practice before I really started listening to my body. I wanted to lose weight, but wanted to do it in a different way. I’d done it in the past, but my weight still yo-yoed with the ups and downs of life’s stress. I applied what I had...
My 2019 was full of wandering. More wandering than I’ve done in quite a while. The wandering isn’t really a bad thing: When I began my advanced yoga teacher training nearly two years ago, I didn’t know why I was doing it or how I was going to use it. I just felt...
I started doing yoga asana (movement) 15 years ago largely to avoid silence. Whenever I attempted to settle into the quiet of meditation or prayer, my mind assaulted me with memories of past negative experiences just dying to surface, with pervasive thoughts of the...
When I drove to the retreat center near Cincinnati inundated in pouring rain, thunder and lightening, even hail, I thought very seriously about turning back. I was already frustrated by the incredible amount of work I had to get done before I left Columbus. My new...
I had just finished a morning run. Dripping with sweat and in desperate need of a shower, I noticed my phone ringing. Ivy Beckwith, my friend and colleague on the Faith Formation Team at the national UCC was calling. I was intrigued, but let the call go to voicemail...
This blog is written for my occasional series, “Things Yoga Has Taught Me About Church.” You make friends fast when you line up at dawn in your spandex triathlon gear on a gorgeous, but chilly, Sunday summer morning. Having the unfortunate luck of being last in the...
Stepping out into the unfamiliar, knowing there is the possibility of spectacular failure, subjects us to an uncomfortable vulnerability most of us would rather avoid. The shaky, excited voice on the other end of the phone begins, “I have an idea …” s/he goes onto...
The girls became blurs of black and white ribbon, green gingham and white lace as they twirled, leapt and frolicked around the folk art communion table. Their slightly askance pirouettes melded seamlessly into the upbeat prelude played by the worship band just in...
Confusion. Frustration. Anxiety. Was written all over my face. I hate to admit this. I like being the one who always has it all together. But, let’s face it. I don’t. I left the house a little too late. In the early morning winter darkness, I got a little lost on the...
With incredible ease I can transport myself back to that beautiful fall, Halloween day 10 years ago. I remember posing in front of the church marquee emblazoned with my name holding my then 6-month old nephew. I remember hastily sending friends back to the grocery...
Pure desperation sparked my fledgling attempts to use videoconferencing software for meetings and other gatherings. Scattered, over-programmed people just couldn’t find time to drive 1-2 hours to yet another meeting each month. Children’s school plays, band concerts...
Sunday morning. I hold a tiny cup of watery coffee in my less-than-dainty hands. A few properly dressed matriarchs and patriarchs of the church I’m visiting stare at me kindly, chatting absently about the weather, inquiring about my drive that morning, commenting on...
As a staunchly “arty” teenager, I disdainfully rolled of my eyes when coaches and athletes would pontificate about the “life lessons” one learned on the football field, the basketball court or the baseball diamond. Embracing my more athletic side as an adult, I open...