Russellings of the Spirit

God

  • Christmas Difference

    Christmas 2019 is going to be very different for me from most Christmases in my recent memory. For one thing, Joan and I will celebrate this Christmas in a whole different part of the country. That is because on November… Continue reading

  • Great Expectations

    A friend and I were recently talking about our kids… as parents are wont to do. On this occasion, my friend was telling me about an experience his middle son had with a guidance counselor at the local high school… Continue reading

  • Does it really matter?

    We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring you this breaking news: Joan and I attended church yesterday. But not just any church. We attended a (wait for it…) LUTHERAN CHURCH! And after the service, we turned our heads, looked… Continue reading

  • Mine/Not Mine

    After enduring the rigors of this move, I no longer feel quite so smugly superior to those squalling seagulls from the Finding Nemo movie. Do you remember them? These were the seagulls that swarmed around any discarded morsel of food… Continue reading

  • Outside in

    Here where I live, today is a good day to be inside. Though it is bright and sunny, it is also cold… like 25 degrees cold. And so even as I practice gratitude for my ability to be sheltered from… Continue reading

  • My Tribe

    “Where are you from?” It used to be such a simple question… with an equally simple answer. People asked it as a way of understanding a little bit more about what made you tick. I used to envy people who… Continue reading

  • “Nope. Not you.”

    Rejection hurts. “Don’t take it personally,” they say. But sometimes personally is the only way you can take it. It’s like the time I was cut from the eighth-grade basketball team. The first three practices were the tryouts. The day after… Continue reading

  • This Old Table

    And so it begins. Earlier today Joan and I bid a fond farewell to the lovely distressed barnwood table (and six matching chairs) as it was toted out of our breakfast room. So many meals around that table. So many… Continue reading

  • GLOW

    My wife GLOWs. Every fourth Thursday of the month. From 5:30 to 7:00. And because she GLOWs, we glow (and grow) together as a family. You see, GLOW is the name of the women’s cancer support group Joan attends at… Continue reading

  • Go Do Love

    Yesterday at church I heard an inspiring sermon. The pastor challenged me (well, all of us actually) to make an intentional practice of acknowledging the many-layered, complex, rich, and vibrant nature of every person we meet. She told us that… Continue reading