Consider the possibility of a miracle, okay?  You are hit with the double whammies of self-doubt and the not sure this is really happening conundrums that make you question all that you hold true. Enter the miracle –embracing your humanity and the equal view that you possess all … [Read more...]

“I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning...”  Joseph Priestley Some time ago on New Year’s Eve, when living in San Francisco, I visited a friend who was Chinese.   … [Read more...]

“Grief does not change you, Hazel. It reveals you.” ― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars The holiday season sometimes prompts complaints of commercialism, being too busy, and not having enough.  It can also bring up feelings of loneliness and melancholy.  There are a myriad of … [Read more...]

“If you concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul.” — Rabbi Harold Kushner  It is so easy to think of Thanksgiving as a holiday of food.  Afterall, there … [Read more...]

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase. Martin Luther King, Jr. Consider the obvious.  Life is showing you a way and you look at the way like a deer in headlights.  What?  You say.   I thought I was supposed to go that way. Okay, so you feel … [Read more...]

Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity. - Louis Pasteur When my friend Matt Cromwell, the author of the blog, The Church/State Guy, wrote me and asked if I would like to be part of a blog relay, HOPE 2012, initiated by … [Read more...]

Occasionally I deviate from the garden prose to comment on other life pursuits, collecting being one of them. We fondly call them the MacStuff Brothers.  Treasure hunters like no other.  Firmly committed to the belief that one cannot have enough stuff, they are otherwise known … [Read more...]

Our family just finished celebrating my mother’s 80th birthday and I was able to enjoy the occasion with awe.  Pretty amazing anyone turning 80.  My Dad turns 82 in August.  They both look several years younger than their years.  Immortal sometimes.  I know they aren’t, just like … [Read more...]

"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix." -Christina Baldwin We are given no guarantees.  We go through life seeking a certainty that doesn’t originate except in our romantic spun illusions.  When the curve ball comes, moving us in a direction we … [Read more...]

Who has not found the heaven below Will fail of it above. God’s residence is next to mine, His furniture is love. - Emily Dickinson There is a certain divinity that occurs in the most normal of circumstances; circumstances which are not at first glance perfect, but in which … [Read more...]