Russellings of the Spirit

pain

  • All Manner of Beauty

    Tucked away up in the far, far northwest corner of the state of Montana, Glacier National Park is a dazzling jewel. With its rugged, snow-capped mountains, jade green glacier-fed lakes and its bulging encyclopedia of wildlife, this park stands alone… Continue reading

  • Panning for Gold

    Here we are, in the thick of one of the most interesting – not to mention consequential – presidential election campaigns in this country’s history! The stakes are incredibly high. The campaign budgets for each candidate are even higher. And… Continue reading

  • An Audience of One

    This week is a familiar week. Yes. It is Holy Week. At the same time, it is a holy week.  For folks like me who have been around the church practically since birth, it is a week that comes with… Continue reading

  • A Chat with Dad

    Today I am going to do something I have not done before. Since today is November 1, I have decided I am going to hold my own, small, very Anglo version of Día de los Muertos. Dia de los Muertos, or… Continue reading

  • “It’s Too Much!!”

    Stop a minute and take a look at this sidewalk.  Notice the flat center section? And then to either side of it, do you see the two slightly inclined sections? Two years ago, when my back pain was at its… Continue reading

  • Did You Notice?

    Sometimes it is easier not to notice.  I’m not talking about merely SEEING… skimming briskly across the surface, dipping in a toe here, then here… … absorbing just enough substance from which to fashion a quip, a comment, a post…… Continue reading

  • My Aching Back There we were, relaxing on the white sugar sands of Destin, Florida. Joan and I traveled there to celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary. [Pro tip: Get married in a year that ends with 000 if you can. That way… Continue reading

  • Seeking Soulpain Relief

    “The reason women have the babies instead of men…” my wife explained, immediately following the birth of our second child, “… is because men couldn’t handle the pain.” After a short time of harrumphing, sputtering, and expressing considerable masculine indignation, I was… Continue reading

  • The God Who Gets It

    By now, my response cycle has become a well-practiced routine. I hear news reports of a mass shooting. I shake my head and sigh, “Not again.” I await the slow trickle of further details, incrementally ratcheting up my shock and outrage as… Continue reading

  • The Sound of Roadblocks

    Most of the time, we (maybe I should say “I”) misread roadblocks. It’s like the time my grandmother bought us a piano. I think I was eight or nine years old. Grandma thought that was the perfect age for me… Continue reading