Consider the Lilies

Category: Humility

  • Sent Sparrows

    Sent Sparrows

    Setting: an ordinary day at work, in a basement office at The Salvation Army, in a somewhat drab brick building on a busy corner in Hartford CT. In this office, there are two windows that are level with the ground, since I work in the “garden level” (AKA basement) of the building. I hear noise…

  • Coming Out of the Dark

    A freak snowstorm hit my area in October, and thousands of people were in the dark – for days.  The lights and power were non-existent in my home for four days, the nights were dark and cold, and it looked like it would stay this way for many more days. When the lights came back…

  • Perception

    Try some reminiscing with one of your siblings.  Just pick out a story from your childhood years and throw it out for conversation.  I am the oldest daughter in a family of four, and I have done this, talking about events of childhood with my sister, who is the youngest of the four. How my…

  • Rejoicing Bones

    I wonder – was the consciousness of sin that the king of Israel of old, David, displayed, unique to that era?  Today’s mantra,”if it feels good, do it,”  is so far from the concept of sin in both the Hebrew and Greek scriptures..  The sins – adultery, lying, murder – that broke the heart of…

  • The cookie and the cross

    It all started with an intention to abstain from certain things during the 40 days of Lent, a common practice observed by Catholics, and a practice that I agree with, in principle.  As I look back to the cross – that horrible, wonderful event that secured freedom from sin – Jesus’ life is one of…

  • The other side of need

    Do you know what would your life would look like if you didn’t have any needs?  I doubt it. It’s hard to picture not having needs.  From the first day of life, we are needy. We forget, but in those early days, we needed warmth.  As babies we needed food and water.  We needed to…

  • The essential donkey

    Until a pair of white and grey donkeys appeared on my father’s farm, I didn’t think much about these odd-looking animals. When  a donkey shows up anywhere in the world, it’s usually in a political cartoon or a kid’s movie. And let’s face it, the donkey doesn’t typically come out on top land an honorable role…

  • A Prayer

      Lord, High and Holy Meek and Lowly, Thou has brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be…