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When the baby was first born, I could spend hours just staring at his brand-new self. I marveled at his movements. Jerky leg kicks. Graceful arm stretches. Twists and turns, quick and sudden. Even now, two months later, his muscles are still learning how to move, figuring out what it will mean to reach and roll. Once…

One of my favorite things about newborns is the thousand faces they make in a minute. Especially as they sleep, they cycle through this amazing array of expressions: from peaceful to puzzled to pensive, all in mere seconds. One moment their eyebrows are arched in wonder; the next they’re scrunched in agony. As if the…

Waiting can seem so passive. What is a waiting room for but sitting impatiently, staring at the clock, flipping idly through a magazine, wondering when your turn will come? And yet we all know that times of waiting quickly fill up with lots of activity. We wait for Christmas or birthdays to arrive with all…

Each day I rise with the same question in mind: will today be The Day? I go about the day’s routine: work, play, eat, sleep. All the while wondering: will the water break? will the contractions start? When and how and where? There will be a Last Moment before it all begins, the rush of…

A few weeks ago, our parish celebrated the ordination of one of our own: a local son who had grown up in the congregation, attended the parish school, and stayed close to our church throughout his years at seminary. It was a joyful celebration to see him preside over the liturgy, with his family beaming…

Walking the miles, singing the blues Learning to love what God gives to you  – Brandi Carlile, “Way To You” Last night I took the dog out under a twilight of dramatic clouds. As I waited for him to sniff the entire row of pine trees in search of the perfect place to do his business,…

Hanging next to our front door is this Irish woodcut print with the prayer below: God, keep my jewel this day from danger From tinker and pooka and black-hearted stranger From harm of the water and hurt of the fire From the horns of the cows going home to the byre From teasing the ass…

Pregnancy is a mix of Advent and Lent. I came to this realization yesterday morning, in between revisiting (there’s a nice euphemism) my first breakfast and scarfing down my second. Here it is – Easter! Spring! – and I’m still feeling crummy. I had hoped the change of seasons, liturgically and naturally, would bring a…

One of my best friends from college came to visit last weekend. She lives 400 miles away, and as a physician, she leads a unenviable schedule in one of the most demanding professions around. But she had a rare free weekend, so she dropped me an email and said she could catch a bus if…

The teenaged lector looked nervous in his (untucked) shirt and (crooked) tie, peppering the intercessions with quiet stammers and awkward pauses. My heart sunk for him, remembering how mortifying it felt to read in front of peers in high school. The church crammed full of faith formation students, bored or giggling or texting under their…