The #31daysofhope blogs end as they began with a wish for the new year from Denise Levertov. Denise Levertov: “For the New Year, 1981” I have a small grain of hope— one small crystal that gleams clear colors out of transparency I need more.I break off a fragment to send you.Please take this grain of … Continue reading Hart to Hearts: Hope for New Year
The words of Ann Tyndall are important as we prepare for a new year: This morning I walked the dog up the street. It was a perfect winter’s morning. An icy breeze was blowing. Clouds were gathered in the sky. As the sun rose the greywhite sky turned to rosy smoke. The sun finally … Continue reading Hart to Hearts: What Gets Us Through
Woody Guthrie was amazing. I was probably in my 30’s before I knew that the songs that I thought were ancient folks songs whose authors were lost to the mists of history were written by Woody. “This Land is Your Land,” I discovered later had subversive verses. My favorite is this one: As I went … Continue reading Hart to Hearts: Hope from the Ancestors III
I’m not one to use what’s considered to be vulgar speech, especially on a blog for my church, but sometimes it is worth doing. This image — source unknown — floated through my social media a year or more ago. It aligns with what I trust to be the truth about how change comes about … Continue reading Hart to Hearts: Hope Arising from Our Vulnerability
Someone on Facebook posted a photo of a small article clipped from the paper and tagged my brother Michael, so I read the article. It was about both my brother and me when we were taken out of our burning house in 1959. We were taking our naps and became trapped on the second … Continue reading Hart to Hearts: Hope from Those Who Serve
There’s a phrase that Martin Luther King, Jr. picked up from Rev. Theodore Parker. King’s version was simpler and more powerful: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” What is most important seems always to be arduous to achieve. Learning how to love — truly love — can take a … Continue reading Hart to Hearts: Hope from Doing Our Part
Hope arises from the network of relationships we have. And my wish for each and everyone is that we can rest in that web of connection. More specifically, the words of James Curtis return to me every year at Christmas: I wish for you, all around you, People who love easily and forgive quickly; Whose … Continue reading Hart to Hearts: A Christmas Wish
It seems that it was every Christmas Eve, we would all climb into cars and drive to church for the service that started at 11:00 p.m.. The sanctuary would be crowded with so many people all holding unlit candles. There would be the reading of the Gospel, carols, and a few other poems and excerpts … Continue reading Hart to Hearts: “For So The Children Come…”
It was sunny and cold. At the end of the ritual of blessing for someone killed in our community, a small dog came limping up to the gathering. He seemed fearless of the humans chatting with each other in small groups. In fact, he cozied up to a woman’s leg and took some pats. The … Continue reading Hart to Hearts: Hope in Small Acts II
Music has the capacity to awaken, enliven and inspire us. This song performed by Sweet Honey in the Rock has been part of the by-heart music that lives within me and gives me hope. We have been in difficult places before, and we continue to work for what is right and just. Remembering that we … Continue reading Hart to Hearts: Hope from the Ancestors II
