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Was Queen Elizabeth a Saint?
The Washington Post referred to Queen Elizabeth “as the most famous woman in the world.” One television commentator said, “She was the biggest star in the world.” Another said, “[We have] celebrated a woman who defined history.” And again, “With unswerving devotion to the gospel, she brought vigor to the monarchy.” If you are among the estimated four billion people worldwide who tuned in early Monday morning to watch the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, you witnessed an unprecedented historic event. Formal services were held first inside Westminster Abbey, followed by a funeral cortege through the streets of London, ending at St. George’s Chapel on the grounds of Windsor Castle.…
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Reining Emotions from Inside Out
The PIXAR movie Inside Out pictures the life of Riley, an 11-year-old girl who must move with her family from the Midwest to San Francisco. The genius of the movie lies in how it shows competing emotions. Which emotion in Riley’s mind will control the situations she encounters? What controls how I feel about what happens to me and what’s happening around me? This question applies to each of us when confronting change. The Refuge of Remembering Over time, Riley’s memories function as islands of refuge when things around her go wrong. Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust, and Sadness are highlighted emotions. The islands of these emotions exist to anchor and…
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Shauna Niequist Talks About Change
In her latest book, I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet, Shauna writes about life after death––death of the life she thought she would live. “This is not about what I’ve been through; this is about what remains . . ..” “This book you’re holding is one I’ve been writing and rewriting for years, and as much as I’ve struggled with it, the struggle has healed me, helped me, and forces me to make sense of my story and our world––as much as anyone can. Being a writer means being committed to paying attention, to walking through the world as a noticer. It means finding language for the seemingly unspeakable,…
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People Are Complicated. So Are Bridges.
In a message by Dr. Earl Palmer, he used the Golden Gate Bridge to illustrate a basic truth about life. He said that the “secret” of this monumental bridge’s strength and stability depends on two main cables. These cables he compared to simplicity and flexibility. It still amazes me when a situation triggers memory of an illustration I heard a long, long time ago. While seeking simplicity, my life still gets complicated. The design of this “eighth wonder of the world in Northern California” does not depend on hundreds of cables strung all over the bay area like a web. Instead, 2 main cables anchored in bedrock on each side…
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Clock Faces: Time Only Moves Forward
“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.” William Penn The psalmist wrote words to remind you and me to number our days in order to apply our hearts to wisdom. [1] Easier said than done. Right? Clock by Linda Pastan Sometimes it really upsets me—the way the clock’s hands keep moving, even when I’m just sitting here not doing anything at all, not even thinking about anything Why or why not? except, right now, about that clock and how it can’t keep its hands still. Even in the dark I picture it, and all its brother and sister clocks and watches, even sundials, all those compulsive…
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By Faith, You Can See Yourself in the Big Family Picture
You may find it hard, if not impossible, to imagine yourself in a picture taken before you were born. Pick a picture, any picture. Hold a picture of your parents as children, or your parents as adults. Can you see yourself as their peer? Can you imagine yourself in some of the scenes of their story which they have described? Just as difficult, imagine a loved one appearing in a current picture long after their departure. If your parents have died, how would you imagine they would look added to this year’s Christmas card? Photoshop can merge images, sometimes making illusions appear real. But here, I ask you to picture…
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“What do you know for sure?”
On a podcast titled, “What We’re Learning,”[1] the speaker shared that when film critic Gene Siskel asked Oprah Winfrey on live television “What do you know for sure?” Oprah could not answer. Later, Oprah recalled that instance as one of her most embarrassing moments. The podcast speaker went on to say how hearing that interview had motivated her to make a list of what she knew for sure. This person felt sure she could. Only after her attempt to do so did she admit the question itself proved unanswerable beyond a list of loves and preferences. Loves and Preferences vs. Convictions Beyond loves and preferences lies convictions. Loves and preferences…
