...a word from Kathy

Faros Armenistis, Mykonos Greece T he 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness are a large part of the Easter story.  But if you’re like me, you may prefer to gloss over this part of the story and get to the happy ending.  However, the rush to the end of the story, the happy ending, may rob us of a life-renewing experience. My husband and I spent a large portion of our lives in the vast lands of Texas.  It was where I learned about the big sky, seeing complete horizons surrounding you.  In my nonprofit work, I spent a few hot days on south Texas ranches and in cattle barns.  One thing similar to all was the dust, the blowing winds of heat, the harshness, the unrelenting sun.  This is as close as I’ve come to experiencing wilderness.  And it’s a far cry from living 40 days and 40 nights in such a place.  And this picture I paint, does not show you my fully loaded, air-conditioned Suburban (if you live in Texas, you must drive a Suburban or so I learne...

I t is approximately five weeks before Easter Sunday and I'm beginning to think about our plans.  The who, what and where of Easter weekend is important, isn't it? What are my preparations? Am I preparing at all?  Do Easter baskets, and new Easter outfits count as preparations or perhaps lunch with the family on Easter Day?   Honestly, it seems that once again my thoughts are up side down.  This is not a season of bunnies, candy, and dying eggs but one of remembering, reflecting, and preparing for a deeper Easter experience. An experience of preparation .  Just before Jesus was led into forty days in the wilderness:  ...John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:  “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘ Prepare the way for the Lord ,  make straight paths for him .’  I wonder in these pre-Easter days; wha...

Welcome to the week of Christmas!  We have choices to make in the next few days.  What dishes to prepare, what to wear, who to visit, what time will we gather, did we buy the right gifts, do we have enough gifts for everyone?  We have choices galore.  Many of us are afforded choices we hardly notice. The Christmas story is about choice also.  Joseph and Mary made a choice to believe.  The shepherds made a choice too, " Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened. " Luke 2:15  It strikes me this year that this God who sent his son to earth as a baby invented choice. He chose to create.  He chose to love.  He chose an unexpected arrival into our world.  He chose to leave the perfect heavenly realm and come into our difficult world.  He chose to walk among us, to know our aches and pains. And he chose to offer us the choice to follow him.  Choice in essence is unconditional love.  It's a story of:  I love...

Photo: S. Keating A s the Day draws near, the hustle and bustle becomes more of a hustle for many of us.  Schedules are  being coordinated, visits being planned, Christmas lists have grown longer, the gifting seems endless, and moms are receiving, "Mom, can you cook this for Christmas" requests.  Oh, the joy of being amid such excitement and anticipation.  But the hustle and bustle elves bumping me around, have me longing for a quiet night. It's as though the noise has become too loud for me to hear.  Or could it be that I'm not tuned correctly to hear, really hear. Thankfully, I found myself in a quiet place this week, joining several hundred people at a Symphony Christmas concert.  We arrived and were seated high above the music-makers.  Our view was soaring above the instruments, and the voices.  Yes, it was crowded but in the most lovely way.  The musicians began to tune, the concertmaster appeared, and was greeted with applause.  Th...

'T is the season to be expectant.  Children are expectant and anxious.  Parents are expecting long gift lists and limited funds.  Grandparents are expecting small pleasures of seeing smiles and giggles.  A few among us are literally expecting babies.  I have a sweet friend expecting a spring baby after the hardship of waiting.  This couple is filled with joy, expectant of the gift they will soon receive.   Truly Christmas is the celebration of waiting in expectation, the expectation of a Savior.  We celebrate a Savior entering this world.  He was expected for generations, he was expected as a warrior, as a conqueror, as one ready to do battle and defeat the opposition.  Yet he came most unexpectedly.  He came as a most vulnerable baby.  How could anyone understand or accept this?  How can we? We seem to still be looking for a conqueror of all that is wrong in our world.  Someone who can give us love, and leadership, a...

H ere we are again awaiting Christmas Day, a celebration of the birth of the Savior.  As I think back in time, way back in time, to the BC era, I wonder how people waited and what they anticipated as they looked for a Savior. Was the expectation so beyond their imaginations that at times they felt the prophecy was only a myth?  As their fathers and grandmothers taught the stories of the expected Messiah, did the words at times fall flat?  In everyday living, holding on to the expectation and the hope of being saved amidst significant persecution, had to be extremely difficult.  It's hard to wait and believe.  It's really difficult to rest in a waiting period without becoming tired, feeling foolish and perhaps turning cynical.  Who can truly save us, they may have pondered?  How can this mess of my life be 'righted' and made whole?  Many life experiences–famine, war, persecution–perhaps led them to feel the foolishness of belief in an unseen savio...

F all is coming and the leaves will soon be turning. Many  people will travel north to see this changing phenomenon. The colors of bright yellow, orange and red stagger our imaginations. The hues are as varied as the sands on the beach. Each leaf will seemingly be singing their own song as they leave the tree and float slowly to the ground.  Can I?  When things change. When life hurts. When my knees get creaky. When an ending seems slow and lonely. When rejection comes. When disasters happen.  What joy can be found if we look closely at the cycle of the seasons?  We live. We cling to the things that give us life and nourishment. We act out our created purpose. We offer shade to those in the heat, we offer the sound of soothing as our leaves connect with others and blow in the wind. We dazzle with our proud colors; from bright green to eventually a deep red, orange or yellow.  The leaves don’t cling to the past or worry about the future. They exi...