One of our local churches has a "Blue Christmas" service every year. I haven't yet been able to get to one, but I presume that it is for people who are sad during the holiday. I think that when people are feeling sad, more sadness will …( read more )

On the morning of the 27th of January, I woke up early, and I was teary-eyed. I had been dreaming about the birth of our first child, stillborn on January 29th, 1957. I think about her quite often, and certainly around that time of the …( read more )

It was a crisp, luminous winter's day when we ventured out of the city for a drive. Hawks were perched prominently in the treetops. Just outside a barn door stood a huddle of cattle absorbing the sun's warmth. It was a glorious morning, …( read more )

One morning, while I was at my computer, my 15-year-old son interrupted my thoughts with these words: "Mom, do you know what the biggest problem in society is? It is loneliness!" He had no idea that at that very moment my fingers were …( read more )

On my walk around the block just awhile ago, I was down in my spirit, saddened by the obvious worldly conduct of the people that I passed. My thoughts were mixed, seeing the disorderly behaviour on the street corner that undermines the …( read more )

It was a sad Christmas. A special, long-time friend and companion had died suddenly, and a light had gone out of my life with her passing. No amount of positive and faith-based thinking lifted me from the doldrums. My energy had waned, …( read more )

What was that old adage about turning lemons into lemonade? How easy that is to say. The problem is that when you are down, you don't want to get up! Emotions run high and low. Some people have a legitimate reason for their sorrow, it is …( read more )

Daybreak opens the skies. The picturesque view from my living room bay window displays a miniature freshwater pond as a family of white-tailed deer dashes across its sunlit banks and breaks for a refreshing drink. Suddenly, I'm in awe: …( read more )

What is it about this Christmas season that makes me feel very "un-Christmas-y"? Perhaps it is the fact that family is not nearby, or the lack of snow on the ground, with rain coming down instead of snow. Or is it the health problems that …( read more )

It had been a few weeks since we'd had rain. Looking out my living room window, I saw that the green grass had turned to a brownish colour. Walking on the grass, we heard the crunching sound made when the … (read more)

They say that life is full of hidden surprises. One of those appeared, on a recent morning. One of the contractors dug through a hidden gas main at our church, causing an emergency. Within minutes, fire engines and utility trucks … (read more)

I'm sitting here at the weir in Montreat, North Carolina, USA, having my morning coffee. The sound of the water falling over the small dam is very peaceful, and reminds me of Psalm 42. As the water cascades, I feel … (read more)

Israel's incident at "Marah", which means "bitter", can be compared to many of life's experiences as we journey through the wilderness of this world. If you are like most people, there probably have been hardships in your life when you … (read more)

Christmas can be a painful and lonely time for some people. At our candlelight service, we light a Blue Christmas candle for those who are grieving, hurting, or ill during the festive season. This poem is recited as the blue … (read more)

I picked up the phone, and one of my elderly parishioners asked me if I could find time to come for a visit. I told him I would be by that afternoon if it would be okay with him. He … (read more)

Last summer, we were in France when the record-breaking heat waves hit the country. At no other time had plain cold water tasted so good on my tongue as in those days when we walked under the scorching sun, breathing … (read more)

How often we have heard a few bars of a tune, or caught a faint fragrance of perfume, and are mentally transported to another place and to another time. Whenever I participate in congregational singing of that lovely song, "As … (read more)

Recently, on our way home after delivering a sermon tape to a member of our congregation who was ill, my husband brought our car to an abrupt halt. On looking up, I saw an elegant deer standing directly in front … (read more)

We had been living through a long, bad patch. Cancer, a broken back, a broken jaw, diabetes, our house struck by lightning… the list seemed endless. As a consequence, I became quite depressed. I allowed myself to develop a full-blown … (read more)

When my daughter was little, she often had nightmares. She would wake up screaming in terror. I was always near when this happened, to hold her briefly in my arms, and to reassure her that everything was as it should … (read more)

Lord, here I am, making up the bed, gathering the sheets, and smoothing them over. I just picked up the pillow to fluff it up, and there they were — the Kleenex under my pillow — still wet from last … (read more)

It has been quite some time since I last wrote a devotional and as I contemplate what circumstances caused this, I find myself writing again. I am sitting outside in my favourite chair on the front porch. As I look … (read more)

I am learning to play the guitar and it's difficult. When I first began, my fingertips hurt, my thumb cramped, and it sounded terrible. The piece I was learning was supposed to be simple, but to me it was the … (read more)

Are you feeling down today? All of us go through those days, even such a great Christian as Martin Luther. One day when Luther was downcast and despairing, his wife came into the room and announced excitedly, "Have you heard … (read more)

When joints or muscles ache from too much weekend exercise, I'm fairly quick to realize that my body's trying to tell me something and encourage healing along with the appropriate dose of Ibuprophen, an ice pack or heating pad, rest, … (read more)

One night my mother came to tuck me in. For most this constitutes a casual occurence in childhood. But it stands out as a momentous moment for me. My mother had Multiple Sclerosis and the effort to get up the … (read more)