As kids

Youth

Precious Pathways

“Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.” Madeleine L’Engle, the late, American writer who wrote A Wrinkle in Time.

Somehow we open up exquisite channels practicing these different arts. I watch my spouse paint and something just flows from deep inside filled with truth. I write and the same process flows from deep in my soul.

Singing? When was the last time you were deeply touched by a song that came from the heart?

These creative acts are beautiful responses in our frequently irrational world. Thank God for these precious pathways to connection.

12/25/20

The Focus of the Christmas Season

The Noel Diary, a Movie Review

This poignant rom-com was released originally in late November of 2022, re-released for yet another Christmas season. It’s beautifully written, well-acted, and touched my heart repeatedly.

The film centered around Jacob and Rachel’s search for peace and understanding with Rachel’s mother and Jacob’s father, the second of which was not intially his intention. She is searching for her long lost birth mother and he finally reconciles with his father after a 30 year lull.

I never reconciled with my father so Jacob’s meeting went straight to my heart, as did much of the film.

The couple’s relationship evolves gradually. The sparks begin to fly when during their first time together she asks him to play the piano and she elegantly sings the song of his choice.

It is in essence a very sweet offering in the Christmas season, the time period in which it occurs.

Don’t miss this one on Netflix. It simply hits the mark.

Now Hear This

Are You Listening?

Sweet, Sweet Sharing

“Writing is a way of sharing our humanity.” William McIlvanney, a Scottish writer. I wonder how many billion times Bill has spelled his name for others? Perhaps that question is something you and I share.

Or perhaps you and I both share a difficult father. Or mule. Or adolescent. Or cellphone. Or hearing aid. Or old age. Is old age easy for anyone?

Being human, in and of itself, is no easy chore. But life’s obstacles get a bit more tolerable if we

share.

.

A Single Voice Singing

Those Memoirs

Nothing Passes

“Nothing passes. Everything stays with you. Everything makes its mark.” The late English` writer, Shelagh Delaney.

Ah, those memories buried in our subconscious. They made their mark.

They impact our behavior. They may or may not take years to uncover.

Some of those memories may be good ones. Others are fraught with pain.

My prayer for each of us, if traumatic events have hindered us, is that by God’s grace, speaking through others, we can be healed.

Seems So Long Ago

Oh Those 70’s

Outfoxed

“Women never have young minds. They were born three thousand years old.” The late English` writer, Shelagh Delaney

Yes, I am seven years older than my spouse. Yes, she was a mere child of 25 when we were wed.

I had slogged through eight years of my medical education and was signing death certificates, testifying as an Assistant State Medical Examiner in Maryland. She had just received a bachelor of fine arts.

Yet, she could outhink me, outanalyze me and generally outdo me. She understood the essence of financial management far more than I did.

Years later, as we sit together in our retirement, watching mysteries, she finds the culprit about an hour before I do, even though, as a medical examiner, I use to work on homicides with the police.

Is she actually three thousand years old?