300 words a day

From Paul: An important part of Advent is giving. True, we are hit on all sides by, “It’s the season to give!” The Salvation Army is outside my neighborhood supermarket. My email and snailmail inboxes are barraged with requests for Christmas gifts – which can be appropriate and good. But what about giving outside your […]

It may be time. Some of us have hidden behind the restrictions on large gatherings for funerals. The delay of services has allowed us to delay naming the person and owning the loss. Or maybe it was just me, just a little. My mom died last December. We didn’t have a graveside service until June. […]

I struggle with giving gifts. It’s not about the cost. For the people we love, we can find the resources. It’s about discovering what people actually want, tempered by what people actually need. A few years ago, our immediate family switched from gifts to gift cards, and then started having a treasure hunt for the […]

A reflection from Rich Dixon which about the heart of Advent. +++ I told Jon a couple of weeks ago I was excited about his new Advent book. We ordered copies for friends and I wrote, “I can’t wait to get started.” I thought “I can’t wait” meant “I’m excited,” so I smiled at Jon’s reply. “You […]

I work at a hospital. In the course of a day, I have lots of conversations with lots of people. Patients, families, coworkers. Your days may be the same. Many of the conversations with coworkers are simple. “Do you know where coworker X is?” “How’s the afternoon going?” “Where are you going next?” Some of […]