Servant Leadership
I heard a fascinating interview with someone whose name I did not catch as he talked about analyzing marketing materials for political candidates. He said that in this age of technological media, candidates’ pundits...
Colorblindness
I used to feel enlightened regarding racism when I could proudly say I was colorblind. I enjoyed interacting with people of different color or ethnicity. I felt comfortable. I felt nonjudgmental. That was until...
Bootstraps, Really???
Some years ago, the local paper ran an article about a young man who decided to hop a train from Raleigh, NC to Charleston, SC with $25 in his pocket. Within six months, he...
A Tough Look
Recent events of blatant racism in our country have set off strong responses on all sides. Hate, violence, compassion, and love have been spoken, acted out, and streamed. I find myself disoriented by both...
Life as we knew it…
‘You may think that life as you knew it is over. “It is. Something has changed. You are in transition. … “Life will continue to change. It’s up to you. You can bemoan what...
Wisdom from Uncharted Journey by Beth Lindsay Templeton
(I began rereading my own book, Uncharted Journey, which is about living through transitions, all kinds of transitions: getting older, losing a job, children growing through various stages, death, etc. I realized that it...
The Uncharted Journey of Transitions
I began rereading my own book, Uncharted Journey, which is about living through transitions, all kinds of transitions: getting older, losing a job, children growing through various stages, death, etc. I realized that it...
The Psalmists Speak
Psalm 84: 1-2: How lovely is thy dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to...
What Would Happen?
Years ago after someone indicated that he thought he was worth more to the community and his company than others were, a staff member at United Ministries said, “Imagine that all the CEOs in...
Sabbath
Social distancing, job loss, economic downturns, disease, and death are making this time treacherous for many people. I know the horror of watching someone die on a ventilator (my beloved husband, Jim Banks) but...
God’s Presence
God Who Is Present in the Darkness, let me feel your presence when I shut my eyes. If that cannot happen at this moment, send someone to me; give me words in a book,...
Social Isolation
Our movements are restricted because of social isolation. With this comes all kinds of positive and negative feelings. Some of us finally have the time to do that house and/or yard work we’ve been...
Good Friday
God chose to become human To take on everything being human entailed. God did not take on just the good things of being human: Smelling fresh baked bread Hearing birds sing Putting feet in...
Washing as Sacred Act
“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer...
Laughter? Now?
Sometimes you just have to laugh. When you open the bag of flour and it flies all over your face…when you forget that you put a new red sock in the washing machine with...
Opportunity
In the dream I was to write an essay: The theme was: Look below the surface of something to find deep implications for your life. Its deepest meaning may be life altering for you...
The Shi**y Day Scale
With this pandemic, most days we do fairly well. However, there are some days when we lose our energy, our hope, and our sense of being okay. When that happens, the Shi**y Day Scale...
Blessing
Since I have time to read through the stack of magazines that have accumulated through the past several months, I am finding truly wonderful gems that apply to the NOW even though they were...
Jesus Wept
The gospel writer Luke tells the story about Jesus coming into Jerusalem on the back of a colt in a different way than what we usually think of. (Luke 19: 29-42) There are no...
Conform or Transform
We are at a moment in history when we can try to maintain life as we knew it before social distancing, self-quarantine, and disruption of our daily regimens, or we can transform into a...