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Gratitude and Surprises
“Gratitude” has been an interesting word to think about for a whole year. Last December when I chose “Gratitude” to be my special word to ponder for 2015 (instead of making any New Year’s Resolutions), I had no idea how much my perspective on everyday life would be altered by thinking about being grateful every…
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Gratitude for Thanksgivings Past
One day last week when Mim and I were out walking Floey, Mim asked me, “Are you looking forward to Thanksgiving this year?” I thought for a minute, and then replied, “Not really. I’m not dreading it, but I’m not excited about it. We don’t really have any special plans. Oh, we’ll have a nice…
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The Best Thing about Darkness
There seems to be much more darkness in the world today than there was a week ago, when I last posted my thoughts on this blog. In the most literal sense, the sun rose 9 minutes later today than it rose a week ago, and it will set 7 minutes earlier than it set a…
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No Vacuum in this Mind
My mind is incapable of tolerating a vacuum. It always finds something to be anxious about, or some problem to be solving, or at least some imminent decisions to be mulling over. Often there are multiple urgent thoughts competing for my attention. Then my mind might start thrashing – a technical computer term that kind…
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Thanks, Maria. That Gives me an idea.
A couple years ago, around the first of November, Chaplain Julia of the Jail Ministry invited the women inmates worshiping together in the jail chapel to tell each other about some of their family traditions related to Halloween and All Saints Day. She especially encouraged Maria to explain to us what her friends and family…
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“Music . . . controls our thoughts, minds, hearts, and spirits”
Now is the time to start singing and playing the big, powerful hymns of the church. It all started last Sunday – Reformation Sunday. Our opening hymn at Messiah Lutheran Church was A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. I tried to set the mood for it with a much louder than usual prelude – a simple…
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Remembering my “times” in Jail
The last couple weeks I’ve been spending a lot of my time working on a new booklet, “Stories from JAIL Ministry: Personal Reflections of a Volunteer.” I recently agreed to speak about the Jail Ministry at a potluck luncheon of the senior citizen club of our church, Messiah Lutheran Church in Madison. Since I like…
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Why Dogs Need an Ecumenical Church
The other day I overheard a conversation between Floey and her cousin Lucy, a golden retriever who is just a few months younger than Floey. Mim, Floey, and I had walked over to my brother’s house for our afternoon walk, and Lucy came out of the Carpentry Shop to play. My brother Danny followed her…
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An Odd Gift
Some forty years ago, I received a really odd gift from my parents. I had recently graduated from college and was living in a small town in Connecticut. I had become a high school English teacher. My parents gave me, as a gift, their used manure spreader. It wasn’t a particularly practical gift for me.…
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Grinning from Ear to Ear
Floey greeted me as I walked in the door. “Hey, Mom, welcome home. But why do you have such a big smile on your face? I thought you were at a funeral.” “You’re right, Floey. I was at a funeral. It was the fifteenth funeral I’ve played the organ for so far this year. It…
Whispering Winds Blog
Taking Time to be still and listen for God
Whispering Winds Blog 