Seeking Authentic Voice

Many years ago I worked in an office. It was a creative company whose clientele were some of the wealthiest in the country. The owner of the business was temperamental to say the least. It was a tough job. While there I formed a friendship with Sallie. In time she became the Godmother of my children and was "in the know" of almost every aspect of my daily life, the way really good friends are. Before too many years had past we both left that office and moved on to other things. I became a full time mom and a very part-time massage therapist. She went off to college where she got a bachelor's, a master's and eventually a PhD. Eventually I got two master's degrees and a new vocation that I've worked in for almost 15 years. As life would have it we lost contact a few years ago. My many moves and some chaos and cell phone changes and so on and so forth meant that some relationships fell by the wayside. Her career, a full time job, and working on a PhD left her i

RevDeb over at RevGals offers this Friday Five: Ain't gonna lie... Even though there are no Trick-or-Treaters in our home, I still eye the candy aisle with undisguised lust. (blushing) What shall it be? Can I resist? Maybe you have a craving for a little something from time to time... join me for this week's Friday Five! 1. First, Sweet or Salty? Or both? Describe that gotta-have-it treat. (It can be healthy or paleo-friendly, or decadent. We won't judge!)   My go to treat lately is KIND bars. I like the dark chocolate nutty bars with 7 grams of protein and I really love the sweet and salty caramel bars with 6 grams of protein. YUM! And they don't mess around with my digestion issues. I also the Equal Exchange dark chocolate bars with almond or the caramel and sea salt. I like sweet and salty. 2. Self-control: How do you help yourself stay strong with the temptation of All That Sugar? As a child I loved Halloween. I loved getting a big bag of candy an

A reflection on the readings for Proper 24A: Exodus 33:12-23 and Matthew 22:15-21 How many of you have your cell phones on you? If your cell phone has a camera, take out your cell phone and take a picture of your self.  Now look at the picture and notice what your see. Notice the color of your eyes and their shape. Notice the shape of your face and your skin tone. What are your thoughts as you do this? Are you judging yourself and being critical? Are you okay with how you look? Have you never really thought about how you look?  In the last ten years there has been an increase in people taking photographs of themselves with the camera on the cell phones. These are called “selfies.” A television star name Kim Kardashian is supposedly writing a book called “Selfish” on how to take selfies. It will include some 200 selfies that she has taken.  Also in the news are reports that there is an increase in plastic surgery since selfies have become so popular. People are

I've been reading, again, Terry Tempest Williams' book, "When Women Were Birds." She tells the story of her mother's death and subsequent reading her mother's journals. She reflects on the impact they had on her. William's writes:  In Mormon culture, women are expected to do two things: keep a journal and bear children. Both gestures are a participatory bow to the past and the future. In telling a story, personal knowledge and continuity are maintained. "When Women Were Birds" tells an engaging story of voice; silence and finding one's voice. She reflects on these from the lens feminism within Mormon culture, a perspective that was unknown to me in my experience of growing up in the Mormon Church. The women in my family, although Mormon for generations since it's origin in the early 1800's did not keep journals. A few of the women have done genealogy and written stories about our foremothers and father's. But neither my mother

A reflection on the readings for Proper 23A: Philippians 4:1-9; Matthew 22:1-14 The other night I had a sudden urge to make homemade bread. I looked through the cabinets and found all the ingredients: yeast, honey, olive oil, whole wheat flour, white flour, and salt. I wanted to make an herb bread so I also needed oregano, basil, rosemary and marjoram.  I have made a lot of bread in my lifetime, it’s something I really love to do. I am especially fond of kneading bread, and always think of my great-grandmother. She had some peculiar ideas about cooking. For example, she thought it was important to only stir cake batter in one direction so that the molecules aligned in the same direction. I guess stirring in multiple directions would mix up the molecules and the cake wouldn’t turn out well? I have no idea if that is true, but I try to follow her instructions anyway.  This particular baking process was a little doomed from the start. First of all, the yeast expired on Sept.