“ Creativity is    intelligence   having  FUN ” Albert Einstein For the second year in a row, our church offered a special children’s event at Christmas. The kids enjoyed breakfast, music, a Christmas story, and then visited interactive project tables where they could create unique items to give as gifts.  After the kids finished, the volunteers had the opportunity to create something. So what did I do? I headed over to the robot-making table where I made a metallic creature out of a tin can. I glued on nuts, bolts, wires, beads, and buttons to give it a face and a personality.  It is incredibly fun to engage in such creative play! Last year I made a short robot; one with straight antennas and pink eyes. I made her hair out of glue from the glue gun, gave her a jingle bell for a nose, and added sturdy antennas so she could pick up radio signals from outer space…ahhh, the world of imagination! This year I made a large robot by starting with a textured can for the bod

Respect your body when it’s asking for a break. Respect your mind when it’s seeking rest. Respect yourself when you need a moment for yourself. I imagine that when we read this, most of us would nod in agreement. Yes, we should respect our bodies and our minds. Yes, we should honor ourselves when we need a moment to disengage. And yet…what we say we agree with…we often don’t actually do. There are many reasons for this, but here’s a few that come to mind:  Feeling driven to accomplish. Feeling responsible. Wanting to keep going.  These desires and compulsions can override – and even mute – the Holy Spirit’s voice within us.  I sometimes behave as if I’m wired to “do”, not just to “be”. Words like accomplishment, success, efficiency and productivity fuel my natural inclination to keep going, despite what my body, my soul or my spirit may say.  Perhaps this also is your feeling…your experience. Let’s be honest: it’s difficult to give ourselves permissio

Several months ago, a sweet friend shared a prayer with me, attributed to Father Thomas Keating. I continue to read it because it helps my anxious spirit and restless heart. It begins with the word “Welcome.”  The Welcome Prayer Welcome, welcome, welcome. I welcome everything that comes to me todaybecause I know it’s for my healing. I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons, situations, and conditions. I let go of my desire for power and control. I let go of my desire for affection, esteem,approval and pleasure. I let go of my desire for survival and security. I let go of my desire to change any situation ,condition, person or myself. I open to the love and presence of God and God’s action within. Amen I like the word “welcome”, don’t you? It’s a greeting that introduces someone to a new relationship, a new place, or a new situation. It’s meant to help someone feel at ease and accepted. I’m glad Father Keating starts with welcome…because the

Every dog experiences so much through its mouth. We’ve had three dogs over the years, and our last one - Heather – had quite an “oral fixation.”  She loved to climb up on my husband’s lap and lick his cheeks. When she didn’t feel well, she always wanted a small dish of milk. She would see it coming…wag her tail…and the milk would quickly disappear from the bowl. Every time we prepared food in the kitchen, she would roam around at our feet, and would quickly  lap up even the tiniest crumb that fell to the floor. If a grape hit the ground, she would pick it up and race back to her bed. However, she had no idea what to do with it! She would roll it around in her mouth, then spit it out. Over and over again. Clearly, the taste and texture weren’t pleasing. Yet it was months before she realized that it was best for her to ignore any grape that came her way. And then, of course, when I once dropped a small chunk of raw hamburger, she moved with incredible speed and wolfed

It seemed just yesterday that my world was full of the panorama of fall colors, but now my world was covered in white. The white of the first winter snow. As I walked through the woods, the trail beneath my feet no longer was soft dirt…now it was wet, crunchy snow. I could see my breath in the air.  It was a sudden transformation, as nature seemingly had reversed itself. As I walked the familiar path – that now looked unfamiliar – it was hard to imagine that a few short weeks before I was surrounded by green grass, colorful flowers, and the hum of insects. Where had it all gone?  Watching this process – the reverse of what seems irreversible – is quite amazing to me.  As a native of southern California, I never had experienced the reversal of seasons until we moved to Illinois and we experienced our first, real, cold and snow-laden winter. And then, of course, winter was transformed and replaced.  So the white of snow was transformed into the bright colors of spring. Wi