Michelle at RevGals asks, what do you do when you're spiritually stuck, and in need of an Epiphany? In no particular order: Clean. Yes, I use the trick of cleaning for lots of stress-inducing things and one would think I had an immaculate house but no, my house is clean in the fits and starts …
Tag: faith
A Call to Answer Hate with Love
This week the news has been so full of hatred and negativity, from the major networks screaming bad news and fear, the mostly ill-informed political rantings on Facebook and other social media, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz and, saddest of all, the accounts of hate-filled incidents perpetrated against our Muslim neighbors. It all makes my heart sore. …
Stereo-atypical
Julie at RevGals asks, NaBloPoMo Day 25: How do you crush a stereotype of your gender/sexual expression/race/denomination/nationality? I don't know that I crush any of them; I live a traditional life. But I think I've occasionally given a student reason to think differently about things, to maybe question a closely-held position, like this one: I was …
An Old, Unlikely Angel
I was feeling a bit sorry for myself yesterday, finishing off left-over pasta puttanesca. For the record, puttanesca is delicious the first day, a bit lack-luster the second, but the mediocrity both suited and fed my mood. Today is October 1st, and the fourth anniversary of my friend's, Jeff's, death. I've been feeling his loss …
Wisdom in Unlikely Places
Wisdom can be found in unlikely places, just as can beauty, and if you're lucky, good barbecue. I loved Sons of Anarchy. I'm sure that surprises no one who knows me well, but others would be forgiven thinking a middle-aged woman with a love of all things Jane Austen wouldn't be drawn to a shoot-em-up, ultra …
Two-a-Days & Schadenfreude
The kids are back in school, though football players have probably been on two-a-days for several weeks, because athleticism takes practice. It takes practice and study to build strong muscles and as it turns out, also character. None of this is news, but it seems I am capable of going long stretches of time willfully …
Houses, Hot Dogs, and the Homeless
There is a weird juxtaposition to looking for a physical home, with all my weird, well-fed little criticisms, oh, I don't like the crappy cabinets in this house; the green paint in that dining room will simply have to go, and passing out food to folks who wouldn't eat otherwise, in a vacant lot downtown. My …
Civil Rights for All Americans : The Job is not Complete
One sunny California day many years ago, I took in the bank deposit for my employer and this happened: our local bank's Merchant Teller was one of the Persian immigrants who came to Southern California after the Iranian Revolution. Farah was well-educated, efficient, beautiful, and always a pleasure to do business with. This day, however, her countenance …
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Texas: Popping Up and Being Awesome
My senior year of high school, I dated a boy named Robert. He was an unlikely candidate for the job, actually, but in the weeks preceding our first actual date, wherever I was, he just kept popping up, being awesome. For some time now I have realized that, like Robert so many years ago, Texas …
Mean Girls
Things happen for a reason, I believe. Not that I picture God is in His heaven moving us about like pawns on His cosmic chessboard (well, maybe sometimes I do), and I concede that we don't always get to know the reason for the things that happen. Maybe I just need to find reason and …
Southern Fried Californian 