A question of perspective
I read a post by Rabbi Evan Moffic the other day that made a lot of sense to me. Here’s the last paragraph: “Life,” philosopher Søren Kierkegaard once said, “is lived for... »
Personal Accounts
The difference faith makes
My father had profound mental health issues which caused him, my mother, and us seven siblings much grief. I had a very unhappy childhood. When I was two years old, I was... »
Abundance or excess
When I was 19, my then-boyfriend told me that his mother, on a recent business trip, had been in a restaurant where people paid $50 for lunch—which would be three times t... »
Solving life’s puzzle
For as long as I can remember, I never liked doing puzzles. Viewing thousands of sky-blue, nearly-identical little pieces scattered over a wooden table was enough to make... »
Growing through failure
It was the end of another long workday. In my first semester as an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher, each day brought dozens of new challenges, which I failed t... »
When at the bottom of the barrel
The other morning I read a passage from Acts, where Paul, in his farewell speech to the church of Ephesus, talked about living life generously and working hard to make su... »
Stunted growth
When I was a kid, I saw plenty of goldfish in the houses of my friends, and I remember wondering why so many people would want to keep such small, unexciting creatures as... »
Stress busters
Thousands of pages have been written about the subject of stress, so I wonder if there’s really anything new I could possibly say to help someone who is struggling with i... »
Master plans and waiting for awesome
In 2007, the Netherlands instituted a two-hundred-year plan for adapting to and preparing for climate change.[[“Dutch to draft 200-year plan against warming,” Associated... »
The mystery of less
Do you ever feel like, in order to meet your own expectations and those of others, you’d have to work relentlessly, push through the tired, ignore the stress—and you stil... »
From pun to prayer
Today, while visiting a small town, I learned yet again that when God says “Jump,” I should ask, “How high?” He always knows best. I walked past a shipping depot and almo... »