Several years ago a wise member of my extended family recommended I participate in an international program called Al-Anon. This is because someone we mutually love was dealing with the disease of alcoholism, and Al-Anon offers support for people whose…

Recently I was reminded of a church program my mother attended and told me about years ago. As she sat in a circle with other participants, the leader asked each person to anonymously write down the toughest problems facing them…

The word “holiness” means to be set apart, in other words truly distinct and special. I wrote the song, “Set Apart,” in response to observing some people I care about having what I would call disposable relationships. It’s painful when…

For the past many weeks I have been going to the gym to walk the track while my daughters participate in a volleyball class there. When circling around, I often notice a mother doing laps with her two daughters, one…

This week my husband had a surgery. In anticipation of it, I was thinking of all the people involved who would make it happen, such as the administrative staff, the nurses, the anesthesiologist team, the plastic surgeon, assisting doctor, and…

Like most human beings, I have my share of patterns in thought and behavior. Plenty are favorable, and many are not. Some seem intrinsic, as in a default setting. Others can be traced back to life experience that conditioned me…

It’s taken me a while to understand this, and still I resist occasionally, but I’ve come to believe that when illness or injury knocks me down for the count it means a time has come for me to listen. Listen…

The concert crowd pleaser, “Yellow Wood,” is this month’s featured song. In this tune, I play off of the famous Robert Frost poem, “The Road Not Taken,” and add to that a pun for good measure. The choice before the…

This week I’ve been made acutely aware (again) of how just one moment can alter so much so fast. Sometimes it’s for the better, sometimes it's for the worse, and maybe sometimes it’s just transformational. 

This past weekend my family…

Years ago a friend told me there are at least six solutions to any given problem. I’m not sure where he got that theory, but it inspires me to think outside of the box when facing what seems to be…

This week I started teaching religious education at our local parish. I was asked why I do it, and there are many answers to that question. One that jumped out at me, however, is that I think people benefit from…

This month’s featured song, “Nothing But Love,” was prompted by a relationship wherein one person was recovering from emotional trauma while the other was on standby, ready to love. In this story, the path toward healing for the wounded one…