Words of Hope: Set the Table

Dad loved the phrase, “Set the Table.” For him, it was a call to action for those in leadership to provide a space for true community and transformation to occur. He got this idea from watching my grandmother. My...

Continue reading →

Words of Hope: What Goes Around Comes Around

In C.S. Lewis’s Reflections on the Psalms he addresses a topic I have struggled with. What do we do with the Psalms that pray down wrath on enemies? Here are poems, songs to God about the absolute trampling and destruction of...

Continue reading →

Words of Hope: Right Intuition and False Suggestion

I am reading Swiss Reformed medical doctor Paul Tournier. He writes that neurosis is the division of right intuition and false suggestion.   I see this easily in myself. I sense that something is wrong but then follow false suggestions that...

Continue reading →

Words of Hope: God Exists

We have a quote on our fridge by one of the best poets in the world, Li Young Li, who says, "I don't have faith that God exists, since I experience God enough to know that God exists, haunting...

Continue reading →

Words of Hope: An Admirable Faith

Shann and I have an elegant conversation every evening. We sit together looking out a window or sitting on a porch. We hold hands and start with gratitude for each other. One of the conversations I often initiate with...

Continue reading →

Eternal Joy

I recently visited Oklahoma to support my daughter Ari who was playing Margo in Bright Star the musical. While I was there, I sat in a chair my dad had sat in five years earlier. We rented the same Airbnb from...

Continue reading →

Words of Hope: Energy Crisis

Dad and I often discussed energy. Navigating cancer requires tremendous energy expenditures, which results in less energy for other aspects of life. I would email Dad sometimes and he would respond, “Beloved daughter, I want to have energy for...

Continue reading →

Words of Hope: Dangerous Tendencies

Dad wanted to be wise about tendencies to make the wrong response in crisis. He believed becoming wise about how we handle stress and crisis is an important consideration, especially if there is trauma in the family history. Dad...

Continue reading →

Words of Hope: Accused and Accuser

Jesus always touches me. I am reading about His interaction with the Pharisees and the woman caught in adultery. He takes a woman who had done wrong. She was morally guilty, and He showed her forgiveness. He takes a...

Continue reading →

Words of Hope: Never Outwitted

I have been mulling over a scripture verse for the last two weeks. It says, “I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware...

Continue reading →