I’ll be on two panels at next week’s Festival of Faith and Writing. On Friday at 8:30 am *yikes* I’ll be talking about How Chronic Conditions Challenge and Enrich the Writing Life with Daniel Bowman, Jr., and Ellen Painter Dollar. Each of us lives with a chronic physical, mental, or neurobiological condition, and we’ll be … More come see me at the Festival of Faith and Writing
The summer before I got married Dave went away to teach at a program for brilliant young writers and I stayed in Pittsburgh, trying to finish my master’s thesis, which I hadn’t started. One night, there was a terrible thunderstorm, and my friend Rachael came over to keep me company. We drank mint juleps and … More Make Something Happen
Christian women in particular feel an intense and absurd pressure to be full of joy and gratitude at all times—especially when it comes to pregnancy and motherhood and life in the domestic church. I’m an ardent believer in the beauty of “living faithfully a hidden life,” as George Eliot wrote so beautifully in Middlemarch, but … More The Absurd Pressure of Gratitude
Catholic sisters have always responded to the pressing need of the historical moment, whether for hospitals, orphanages, and schools, or for peace, justice, and civil rights. Today we live in a world where, in the words of Pope Francis, “any genuine attempt by groups within society to introduce change is viewed as a nuisance based … More Organic Habits: US Catholic Magazine
Last Ash Wednesday, my brother sent a text asking what my spiritual goals were. I wrote back, “stay alive.” I was lying in my best friend’s bed in Chicago, so depressed I could barely move my fingers, but I vividly remember answering his text, then scrolling through the weather app on my phone to see the … More Lent 2016: Bring on the Night
I’m over at The Mudroom today with my first post as a contributor. “And all the liturgical feasts and solemnities of the season speak of our amazement to find him here among us, in our flesh, in our world. The three wise men find him by the stars. Simeon recognizes Him as the Messiah and … More Wearing Our Lives Lightly
Jonathan Ryan and I have set up a soapbox over at Patheos.com in the hopes that some interesting people will show up. We’re calling the new blog Sick Pilgrim, because we’re all pilgrims drifting toward God whether we realize it or not, sick as dogs, wounded and fallen, in need of healing and rest and companionship. Sometimes we sing … More Sick Pilgrim debuts on Patheos.com
Congratulations Elizabeth Waterman, Teri Jackson, Loretta Tschetter, Robin Farnsworth, and Julia Durgan! Each of you will receive a copy of Grace Filled Days 2016 in the mail this week (or maybe next. They’re shipping from the remote hinterlands of northwest lower Michigan, where I think we still use the pony express.) Thanks to you and to all … More Grace Filled Days Winners
Did I Really Write That? This sounds suspiciously like Paul McCartney to me, but nope, it was me, riffing on C.S. Lewis for Loyola Press! As you prepare to say goodbye to 2015, think about getting my 2016 lectionary-based devotional, Grace-Filled Days, for yourself and a friend. I’m pretty sure I reference Boston’s “Don’t Look Back” … More I Got Memed
We can’t make it or own it. We can’t earn it. It’s freely and mysteriously and indiscriminately given. The goodness and mercy of the Lord follow us, as the Psalm says, all the days of our lives. But we can’t grab hold of grace. The moment we think we can trace its movements through our … More Grace Filled Days Giveaway
