St. John Cassian, an early fifth century monastic who studied with the Desert Fathers of Egypt, wrote of eight vices. These vices make...

Alice Walker wrote “Resistance is the secret of joy” in her novel Possessing the Secret of Joy . I was a senior in high school when I...

The American Dream is a simple narrative: people from all corners of the world come to our shores looking for a chance at a better life...

Image from https://jesusbin.blogspot.com/2016/11/pope-francis-wallpaper-free-download.html Pope Francis was laid to rest this past...

Love is at Hand I hear it every day: the fear of people. We all have fear in our lives, but what I am speaking of is a shared-fear of the...

Georg Pencz | Christ Healing the Leper, from The Story of Christ The first patient I ever met with as a student chaplain had leprosy....

My fortieth birthday hit hard. I wasn’t a young thing anymore. I hadn’t achieved the accomplishments in art and writing that I had...

The new light reflected off the clouds and waves this morning. It was an orange crush sunrise. I walked along the little road next to the...

The rain in Olympia feels endless this time of year. This past week it actually was, save for a few moments, truly endless. I took a walk...

Emotions are running high in the U.S.A.; like a tsunami of satisfaction on the Red-side and despair on the Blue-side. Make no mistake,...

I watched a father and his three-year-old daughter walking into Costco today. The little girl was pointing at people passing by, saying...

I’ve heard the call from the deep ocean of my soul many times. The first call to which I responded sounded when I was 16 years old, when...

I pay attention to what people are watching around the hospital. Nearly every patient has their own TV. There are the tiny TV’s we keep...

My job is to listen and to speak. When I do my job well, the words come easily, from my heart to the listener’s ears. It’s not easy to...

Per my last post, I feel that each of us possesses a Pearl of Great Value within ourselves, which is our story. Our personal narratives...

The parable of the Pearl of Great Value (Matthew 13:45-46) asks the reader for what would they sell everything. What would you give up...

As this Holy Week proceeds to Easter Sunday, people of the Christian persuasion make their plans for church services, Easter egg hunts,...

I know that I have built rapport with a patient when they share their pet photos with me. The invention of the camera phone makes this...

I believe that our lived experiences can be deeply symbolic and meaningful. Our physical actions can reveal a hidden reverence for or...

It was a revelation to find my voice when I was a girl and young woman. This voice expressed itself in the language of art and writing. I...