"Here is your ice cream cone," he declares. Satisfied and soapy, he hands me a cup full of bubbles. He eyes me intently, underneath wet curls. "What flavor is it?" I know to ask. The joy sparks: she sees it, too! "It is chocolate-ish strawberry vanilla. It is served in a cone and a dish." "You are KIDDING," I gape. "That is my favorite flavor in the world." I slurp and snarf, devour the whole airy nothing in front of his damp beaming face, which dazzles into delight. "Ah-ha!" he shrieks, splashing. "Yes! We will make some more." He is three years old. He knows what adults have forgotten. Make-believe and truth are both sides of imagination's coin. Creation is our work of everyday. Here we are at bathtime. The Spirit still hovers over the water. Faucets are waterfalls, bubbles are beards, cups splash with soup, anything becomes a boat. Too often adults are mere spectators, flimsy facsimiles of what it means to witness. Distracted by phones, anxious … [Read more...] about childhood & creation: this sacred everyday
everyday sacrament
to be vessel and passage
Right now are the waning days of pregnancy. Contractions come and go. Intense, then subsiding. I can't walk without waddling. Sleep is fitful, restless. Comfort is elusive. I wake a hundred times. Every morning the kids ask if the baby will be born today. No one knows. These are my last days to carry. To be a vessel. Soon I will become the passage. . . . Each time the priest lifts high the cup and plate, intoning the thundering prayer I've heard for decades, I try to understand. What does it mean for God to be held in human hands? To offer us a way to become holy? Eucharist is vessel and passage. Jesus said I am the Cup of Life and I am the Way, and people were so startled by his strange words that they remembered them, recited them under breath a thousand times, wrote them down and passed them on, pressed them into the hands of others saying, see? It is all here. If you can try to understand. If you can believe. What I believe is this. We gather … [Read more...] about to be vessel and passage
5 favorite books on motherhood
This post contains affiliate links. May means Mother’s Day. I’ve written before about the complicated nature of this holiday (and the need to remember all kinds of mothers on Mother’s Day). But it remains a beautiful time to celebrate the women who have mothered us—and the mothers that many of us are becoming. In honor of this month’s celebration, I’ve gathered a few of my favorite reads on motherhood. (Check out the Mothering Spirit Facebook page for a great list of readers’ selections, too!) What would you add to the list? Mitten Strings for God: Reflections for Mothers in a Hurry by Katrina Kenison Part memoir, part meditation, Katrina’s book might be my favorite on motherhood. Her writing offers such spaciousness and peace that you savor each sentence like a deep breath. I’ve returned to this book many times (clearly the subtitle continues to speak to my life!). Katrina offers stories from ordinary days at home, but weaves in wise perspectives and gentle suggestions that feel … [Read more...] about 5 favorite books on motherhood
what love looks like now
I had just thrown up when the doorbell rang. I wiped my mouth clean and pulled the door open to let February chill rush inside. "Laura?" asked the stranger. "Have a good day." He handed me a hulking bouquet, plastic wrapped against the wind. "Ooo, Mama!" chirped the small boy at my knees. "Those are beautiful! Let's open them!" Roses red as blood spilled their scent across the kitchen as I unwound the plastic bags, my pregnant belly pressed against the counter. I read the typed card on the tall plastic fork and it made me laugh, private jokes still funny after years and years. This is what love looks like now. . . . A decade of marriage has slipped behind us, only a fifth of the beads on a rosary chain. A small handful of mysteries. At turns joyful, sorrowful, glorious, luminous. We know each other better than we know anyone else on this rocky planet. The deep body knowing that comes from years of sharing sheets and silverware and the same strange sense of … [Read more...] about what love looks like now
