Category: Detoured by Affliction

“Waste Not, Want not, is a maxim I would teach, Let your watchword be dispatch* and practice what you preach, Do not let your chances like sunbeams pass you by, For you never miss the water till the well runs dry.” *Dispatch: promptness and efficiency in performance or transmission ********** I heard this chorus a…

Be strong, and let your heart take courage,    all you who wait for the Lord! Psalm 31:24 English Standard Version A Prayer by Clarissa Pinkola Estes Refuse to fall down.If you cannot refuse to fall down,refuse to stay down.If you cannot refuse to stay down,lift your heart toward heaven,and like a hungry beggar,ask that it be filled.You…

Last Friday, I was in the middle of dinner when I realized, “I have a fever!” Like any good American, I immediately googled Covid symptoms. I had:Fever. Dry cough.Fatigue.Chills.Sore throat.Headache.Purple toes.(There are other symptoms I didn’t have, but nobody gets all of them, right? That wouldn’t be fair.) And I’d already hugged Jenna today! What…

“Stop. Just stop.  Stop the unhealthy lifestyle. Stop trying to be what you are not, what you were never intended to be.” These words are from my journal, dated 12/2/94. I was coming out of that first bout of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and looking eagerly toward resuming my “regularly scheduled life.” I was ready to…

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –That perches in the soul –And sings the tune without the words –And never stops – at all – And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –And sore must be the storm –That could abash the little BirdThat kept so many warm – I’ve heard it in…

by Theodore Roethke (I went searching for this poem after hearing it quoted on “The West Wing.” It reminds me that each day, from cradle to grave, is a blessing, and that getting older is not for sissies. Now is the only time we have. Let’s enjoy whatever today brings, and live wisely.) ********** In…

Now that things are beginning to open up, we are being encouraged to resume our “temporarily interrupted lives.” As though that is possible. Because “going forward” is not the same as “going back.” There is no “back” to go to. Our new “normal” doesn’t mean we are through with the need for patience. Patience is…

Yet he knows the way I have taken;when he has tested me, I will emerge as pure gold. Job 23:9-11 Christian Standard Bible (CSB) “One day we took the children to see a goldsmith refine gold after the ancient manner of the East. He was sitting beside his little charcoal fire. (“He shall sit as…

Spring is not supposed to be like this. It’s the season of bright possibility before the heat of summer sets in. By Mother’s Day we traditionally start planting. But this year spring came quite late. It’s not supposed to be like this, but it is. It’s not supposed to be like this: afraid to leave…

“WHY?“And as I scream, I lift my tear-stained face,I shake my tight-clenched fist against the sky; “WHY?“This ceaseless, burning rage within my breast,This ever-present grief that will not die; “WHY?“My future grimly dark and full of fear,I beat the gates of heaven with my cry: “WHY?“ ********** The answer comes: but not to tell of…