Category: Reflections
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Remembering My Mom – and Yesterday’s Sermon – on Memorial Day
My earliest memory of Memorial Day is going to the cemetery with my mom to put flowers on the graves of my grandparents. I remember asking her, “Why are we putting flowers on their graves? They weren’t soldiers.” And she responded, “Memorial Day is for remembering everyone we love who has died.” With that conversation…
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Being Thankful Today – not just on Thanksgiving
Today’s about as far from Thanksgiving as you can be in a year, but I want to talk about being thankful anyway. Being thankful was on my mind a lot last week. On Thursday, I went to the county jail again to play the piano for the women inmate’s worship service. During the testimony time,…
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Upcoming Retreat at Whispering Winds: “Wrinkles Don’t Hurt”
Guest blog post by Pastor and Spiritual Director Joan Gunderman It is not difficult to talk and joke with friends about growing old, but how often do we have conversations with others about meaning, where we can honestly share our wisdom and peace, our fears and doubts, our faith, and the unique humor that comes…
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Am I really defined by my possessions?
Several days ago Mim learned about the need for a $2,300 repair on her 2003 Toyota Matrix. We briefly considered whether or not it was getting to be time to replace the car, and quickly concluded that now is not the time for us to pay for a new car. Today I hope to clean…
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Summer Small Group Opportunities at Whispering Winds… Starting this month!
Joan Gunderman will be leading two small groups at Whispering Winds this summer. I asked her to tell us about these groups in today’s blog post. “Great Reads” 3rd Mondays, May-October, 7:00-8:30 p.m. Are you someone who enjoys discussing a good book with others who have read it, too? You’ll have a series…
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A Voice from the Past
“Good night, Vince.” “Night, Mare.” Then Vince would burst out laughing. That was our end-of-the-workday ritual every day for about a year in the mid-1970’s. Nobody called me “Mare” except Vince. And he called me that only at the end of the day, just so he could say “nightmare” to me as a goodnight “blessing”…
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True Happiness – According to Abbey
Last Thursday my dog Abbey received a gift certificate. That prompted quite a conversation between Abbey and me about happiness and purpose in our lives. I recorded the conversation below. It all started with with me saying, “My, you’re looking happy today, Abbey. The happiest you have looked in weeks.” Abbey responded with, “I am happy. Did…
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Asparagus Story
The first edible sign of spring has arrived – asparagus. I discovered the first lonely stalk standing proud, about 8 inches tall, yesterday. Nearby were a few shorter stubs. There wasn’t quite enough for a meal, so the little clump is still standing. Asparagus was my mom’s favorite vegetable. She started a couple patches growing…
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The Repetition of “Firsts”
Yesterday I picked our first bouquet of fresh flowers from the beds that surround Whispering Winds – an 18″ sprig of bright yellow forsythia standing tall above seven pale yellow daffodils. The fresh bouquet was the centerpiece in the living room for our hymn sing yesterday. The day before, the daffodils weren’t open yet. The…
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