As usual, you have give me much to think about….what resonated the most today was your words on hope vs. optimism. My nephew is desperately ill and continues to lose ground after over a year of treatment for a rare cancer than cruelly targets young men. My sister is persistently cheerful, and I cannot find fault with how she manages her fear and stress, but you have just nailed the unease I feel when reading her posts. I am worried that she will collapse under the weight of her reality. Thank you for your words. I will read them again, as needed.
Jeff, thank you for this reminder: "Hope can handle both the good and the bad, inspiring us to ask how to observe an occasion well and what we can do to make it the best, truest version possible of itself." Amen! Thank you for your writing, and may you also have a restful Thanksgiving. 🙏
dark Saturday morning . 50 people in KY died last night in the winds that roared while I tried to sleep . A 15 year old member of our church is in hospice after a two year cancer battle ... no words of consolation will form in my searching for his dads and sister. I am conflicted daily with the joys of my life and the unpredictability of my life .This morning I awakened to the grief of a lost friendship punctuated by a text from a year ago: "let's have coffee " and the relentless silence of the past year . Hope is the idea that keeps me moving, and my hope is a choice in light of a loving God . The God of those who grieve is always right here in our midst . You and Sarah and Kate and Nadia have shown up for Hope again and again . Your words bring me hope and my faith is strengtened by them . Thank you for this offering of your words. You make a difference . Beth
Thank you, Jeff for your thoughtful words. Enjoy your smoked turkey! And please consider publishing your homilies. It’d be a gift to the world (and another bestseller)!
Jeff, grateful for your musings - and thankful for YOU. Ecclesiastes remains one of my favorite Bible books (whoever Qohelet may be - your Homily explains it well). I consider Ecclesiastes "inspired atheism ... If you take God out of sub-solar reality, what's left? Emptiness." Walker Percy's book title says it well: "Lost in the Cosmos: the Last Self-Help Book." Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
As usual, you have give me much to think about….what resonated the most today was your words on hope vs. optimism. My nephew is desperately ill and continues to lose ground after over a year of treatment for a rare cancer than cruelly targets young men. My sister is persistently cheerful, and I cannot find fault with how she manages her fear and stress, but you have just nailed the unease I feel when reading her posts. I am worried that she will collapse under the weight of her reality. Thank you for your words. I will read them again, as needed.
Jeff, thank you for this reminder: "Hope can handle both the good and the bad, inspiring us to ask how to observe an occasion well and what we can do to make it the best, truest version possible of itself." Amen! Thank you for your writing, and may you also have a restful Thanksgiving. 🙏
Jeff, I'm so grateful for your words this
dark Saturday morning . 50 people in KY died last night in the winds that roared while I tried to sleep . A 15 year old member of our church is in hospice after a two year cancer battle ... no words of consolation will form in my searching for his dads and sister. I am conflicted daily with the joys of my life and the unpredictability of my life .This morning I awakened to the grief of a lost friendship punctuated by a text from a year ago: "let's have coffee " and the relentless silence of the past year . Hope is the idea that keeps me moving, and my hope is a choice in light of a loving God . The God of those who grieve is always right here in our midst . You and Sarah and Kate and Nadia have shown up for Hope again and again . Your words bring me hope and my faith is strengtened by them . Thank you for this offering of your words. You make a difference . Beth
Thank you, Jeff for your thoughtful words. Enjoy your smoked turkey! And please consider publishing your homilies. It’d be a gift to the world (and another bestseller)!
Jeff, grateful for your musings - and thankful for YOU. Ecclesiastes remains one of my favorite Bible books (whoever Qohelet may be - your Homily explains it well). I consider Ecclesiastes "inspired atheism ... If you take God out of sub-solar reality, what's left? Emptiness." Walker Percy's book title says it well: "Lost in the Cosmos: the Last Self-Help Book." Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!