Category Archives: belief

the splinter shined existence

Posted on September 2, 2009 by Deanna

Life and challenges go together. Like suffering and creativity, they’re fairly inescapable bedfellows. Things have reminded me this week, days have included moments when I want to shout, “What’s the point?” And then I remember, thankfully, I’m no longer on a quest for purpose. Not that seeking a purpose is inherently bad. The word has … Continue reading →

Posted in belief, embracing dorkhood, life | 6 Comments

In this light

Posted on August 24, 2009 by Deanna

The garden tangles. Zucchini swell and elongate, beans curve in fading half-moons, pumpkins appear beneath rough leaves, their runners twined around the tall grass stalks I grasp and tug away. I’m tidying only slightly. Digging out brown marigolds, clipping columbine pods. Late-day light on my jungle is calming. This past season, more than many, I’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in belief, reflection | 3 Comments

feast on these

Posted on April 22, 2009 by Deanna

A much beautifuller sunrise happened over Spencer Butte and the distant Cascades this past Sunday than Tim and I saw on Easter (or Wester, as our son has started calling the day we Westerners celebrate Christ’s resurrection). This week was the Eastern Orthodox version of Easter, called Pascha. Victoria (recently baptized as Nina) climbed the … Continue reading →

Posted in belief, outdoors, wonder | 5 Comments

with his cellphone

Posted on April 13, 2009 by Deanna

Tim got pictures Saturday. Oil on the nose and feet. A pretty chain clasped round the neck with a towel, and many hugs. The back of her robe. The front. I don’t know much, but I know my daughter’s happy (holding an icon of St. Nina).

Posted in belief, family, thankfulness | 2 Comments

interesting times they are achanging

Posted on April 13, 2009 by Deanna

It was Lazarus Saturday. Standing in the area adjoining the Nave, the incense smell reminded me of shops we used to stop at on summer vacation, traveling down the coast to California in Aunt Janie and Uncle Larry’s brown, paneled station wagon. We kids would surge into souvenir places in the towns near our campgrounds, … Continue reading →

Posted in belief, family, life | 6 Comments

the littlest guy

Posted on March 25, 2009 by Deanna

Well, I can’t help it. I’m rather pulpitizing my blog of late, but there are things to say. Perusing the online version of First Things this morning, I found a eulogy for Fr. Richard John Neuhaus by Robert P. George. The author describes Neuhaus, a once sought-after intellectual speaker and Lutheran pastor who became a … Continue reading →

Posted in belief, interesting | 2 Comments

the meaning of life for me at this time

Posted on March 17, 2009 by Deanna

Tim’s dad sent an interesting email today. He knew I’d be unable to resist expressing my views. Here’s how he introduced the subject: “A schoolmate of mine, now a professor in Texas, wrote and asked me to respond to the question, ‘What is the meaning of life as you have thus far experienced it?’” Dad … Continue reading →

Posted in belief, life, opinionated | 9 Comments

Posted on August 25, 2008 by Deanna

Yesterday morning I finished this book. In church the story from John’s gospel was of the man born blind whom Jesus healed. I imagined that man to be like Frank McCourt. Not Irish, of course, but sensible in the face of authority figures who’ve forgotten, lost, or simply had stomped out of themselves the sweetness … Continue reading →

Posted in belief, wonder | 4 Comments