Blog

Eye Can See Clearly Now

Happy New Year! It’s crazy that it’s already the end of January 2022. This long and winding treacherous road of Covid19 has worn everyone out and the exhaustion level for so many has been off the charts.

My healthcare colleagues and clients are reporting staff call-outs for sick and/or quarantining at higher rates than at any other time since the pandemic began. Thankfully those vaccinated have not been gravely ill. One colleague said 10% of their staff have had close relatives die of Covid.

The indefatigable stress and strain in these times take a toll. Most of us went into healthcare to serve others, selflessly. That’s great when the reservoirs are full. However, for many, the tanks are empty. So how do we go on? What will it take to keep putting 1 foot in front of the other?

Intention. All of us alive today who keep going to work, caring for the kids, brushing our teeth, getting meals prepared, and functioning...

How Goes It With Your Soul?

How goes it with your soul? That's the question my friend Peggy Dyson would ask me each time we spoke.  It always took me a moment to consider before my answer would emerge.  Which was just exactly what she hoped for. Prior to working in hospice, Peggy was an associate minister of the United Methodist Church. John Wesley, the joint founder of the Methodist movement in the Church of England, used this question two centuries ago when his followers met in small gatherings. 

We measure our lives in all kinds of ways—the hours we work, the salary we earn, our children’s successes, the number of days we workout, our titles, and the letters after our name. Businesses and organizations focus on "best practices" or "quality control. But how often do we assess the most important relationship in our lives, our relationship with our soul, our spirit, or our highest and best selves?

My friend Peggy taught me how to pay attention...

From A Distance

I’ve had an earworm in my head again this week. This time its’s the song From A Distance first recorded by the late Nanci Griffith and was a major hit for Bette Midler.

Lately, it feels as if the turmoil and chaos around the world are overwhelming. The Covid Delta variant is spiking, earthquakes in Haiti, wildfires, floods, hurricanes, and Afghanistan. I find myself becoming discouraged and stressed. Then the song pops in my head…From a Distance...

From a distance the world looks blue and green,
and the snow-capped mountains white.
From a distance the ocean meets the stream,
and the eagle takes to flight.

Watching the news often results in an increase in my stress level. But then, I pause, take a breath, step back and I’m reminded the sun still came up this morning! Gravity is still working! I am still breathing, and my heart is beating without me doing anything!

We are on a planet that has been around for 4 ½...

THE INVISIBLE ENEMY

“... “May he live in interesting times.” Like it or not, we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty, but they are also the most creative of any time in the history of mankind.” In 1966 Robert F. Kennedy delivered a speech that shared those words.

Here we are again, living in “interesting times” of danger and uncertainty. The current enemy does not carry guns or missiles. It does not hate or have religious, political, gender or cultural preferences. This enemy is invisible and is impacting all of humanity and our world.   

We are all realizing how connected we are now. We thought we were separate, we thought our country was better than theirs, we thought our culture was more refined than theirs, we thought our economy was better than theirs, we thought we were smarter than them. We are recognizing now, are all in this together, human beings, children of God here on this...