Can any good come out of this pandemic?  The pandemic obviously isn’t good for the health and well-being of the people on this planet.  But can good come out of this situation, in which we are all sacrificing in so many ways.   I’ve always been puzzled by the apostle Paul’s statement in Romans 8:28, “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God.”  Hmm… I can think of circumstances where those who love God and who live their lives faithfully, have experienced things that have not worked out for the good.  Yet, in pondering Paul’s...

What do I do with my cranky, grumpy, clingy kid? You might be noticing that your children or grandchildren are more clingy, demanding, and out of sorts than usual.  That isn’t surprising. Whether they are 2 months, 2 years or 12 years old, they are feeling the emotional effects of this pandemic as much as the adults.    A child doesn’t have to cognitively be able to understand what is going on before they feel the emotional effects. Babies and toddlers pick up the energy of their parents and grandparents.  They sense, without any rational analysis needed, that the people who...

Note: The first seven parts of this series are found earlier in the blog posts. In this final blog on marriage (committed relationships of any kind), I want to explore being a soulmate and surviving this pandemic, all in this one piece to end the series on “The Seasons of Marriage.” First, soulmate…. What exactly is a soulmate? Is my spouse/partner truly my soulmate? Can my soulmate spouse suddenly no longer be a soulmate?   A soulmate seems to be considered someone who just “gets you.” They understand you, anticipate your needs, respect who you are and love you unconditionally. You...

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  Prayer isn’t magic.  When we enter into prayer with God, it isn’t expecting a genie to grant us our three wishes or Santa Claus to deliver on our wish-list for Christmas.   Prayer also isn’t about trying to manipulate God, the loving energy behind and within the universe.  While we might beg, plead, or demand things of God, while we might try bargaining with God, these are not the actions that make prayer the gift that it is.  We are welcome to take all of our emotions into prayer, the frustration and...

Like many of us I’m sure… I just finished a mid-morning Zoom drop-in meeting for congregational folks where everyone is invited to pour a cuppa and spend an hour in the company of others.   I am always a little bit surprised by how much lighter I feel after I end the meeting—seeing each other, hearing each other, being in touch with each other.  It’s really good.  I am especially grateful that we have many and varying ways to connect with each other through technology and that is actually helping us defeat COVID19 by helping us be together while apart.   COVID...

It is not your child’s fault! It is not your partner’s fault! Nor the fault of the cashier at the grocery story or the clerk at the bank. This pandemic, and all of the changes and challenges it has created, is not the fault of your child or partner or anyone else.   I say this because when our frustration and alarm are overflowing, as they can be these days, it is easy for those emotions to be directed in the wrong way at the wrong person. We can end up hurting those we love and those who are helping us....

Hope! Usually spring brings with it a deep sense of hope as we watch birds return, the days grow longer and flowers begin to poke through (anyone seen any prairie crocuses yet?) This year however is unusual to say the least.  Hope may feel a bit elusive – but hope still exists.   This week I share with you an article written by Dr. Alan Wolfelt, with whom I did grief studies. It says all that I could say and more about nurturing hope. PDF: Nurturing_Hope_-_Alan_Wolfelt.pdf It is also found at: https://www.centerforloss.com/2020/03/nurturing-hope-in-difficult-times/   The key thing is that nurturing hope is a practice. ...

Where is God? Who is God? For people of faith, that may be a key question in the midst of this pandemic.  Any crisis, personal or communal, can lead us to ask deep questions about our faith and about everything we believe about life.  And, as we physically isolate, we might have a great deal of time to think about questions such as these.  If we are facing, in addition, other challenges such as the loss of work, challenges to our finances, the death of a loved one, then we can easily begin re-evaluating everything we thought we once believed.  ...

Our children are now home from school for an undetermined period, weeks if not months. We as adults feel alarm and anxiety and so do our children and teens. Our faith has a gift for us in the midst of this current situation: the message that “God is with us; we are not alone!” God doesn’t magically cure or change things in the world; God’s love does work through us, with us and within us through all that life brings our way. It is the love we know from God and the love that we share with family and friends (even...

The Covid-19 virus has taken over the news cycle, and now is starting to affect various events and maybe even our daily routines. We might feel the alarm growing within us as we wonder just how worried we should be. Here is my advice and how I’m approaching this:   SLOW DOWN!   I mean this in two ways. First of all, slow down the reactions. Right now, many of us are perfectly safe. We should practice good flu season basics – washing hands, staying home when we are sick, not touching our face and not shaking hands with other people....