Russellings of the Spirit

peace

  • 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

  • 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

  • In Defense of Thoughts and Prayers

    Let’s be clear right off the bat; science has shown that 86% of the time when people respond to a tragedy by offering their “thoughts and prayers,” it is a hollow sentiment. It sounds good. It sounds empathetic. It sounds… Continue reading

  • How is your HT/WT?

    When was the last time you checked the HT/WT ratio of your life? Just in case my question is a little obtuse, let me explain. I am referring – of course – to your “Have to/Want to” ratio… the relationship between… Continue reading

  • GOT GoT? Nope

    Winter is coming… but I won’t be there to see it. Tonight – as you might have heard – will be the final installment of the mega-blockbuster TV show Game of Thrones. This fantasy-based program features mythical ancient kingdoms, zombies,… Continue reading

  • Leaf it to God

    The blowing wind woke me up this morning. Check that… I meant to say, “The wildly blowing, nearly gale-force wind woke me up this morning.” There, just outside our bedroom windows, I could see the branches of large trees swaying hypnotically, as… Continue reading

  • Christmas Past?

    And… it’s done. It is back to being the wet winter world full of car horns, dry cleaning, bare trees, and muddy footprints I always thought it was. It is the 26th. And today all the dreamy blurred edges and… Continue reading

  • Growing Hope

    This soil This seed Buried This crazy idea That the story goes any further Than this. This waiting This seeing… NOTHING     This knowing This peace This HOPE This tree. Continue reading

  • The idol of safety

    They were just sitting there at their table in that Waffle House… chatting, drinking coffee, and reliving adventures from earlier that night. They were just out for a stroll on the sidewalk on an unseasonably beautiful spring day… drinking in… Continue reading

  • My own Facebooklessness

    Something had to change. And it had to change soon. I would compare the feeling I was dealing with to the very earliest nibblings of an oncoming head cold… you know; those times when you know something is a little… Continue reading