by David Anderson
My daughter is having a baby which means that I am having a grandchild. Grandparenthood is once removed. This is a birth you did not conceive. You did not have any choice in this matter. Often parents have to “try” to have a child. They decide that now is a good time to allow it […]
by David Anderson 9 Comments Filed Under: Blessing, Family, Grace, Gratitude, Letting Go, Patience, Waiting
One of the lessons we learn as we grow older is to cherish life every day, and not to pin our hopes on a future that never comes. We all believe in the myth of future bliss. Americans especially swear by this one—that with a lot of hard work and sacrifice we’ll one day achieve […]
by David Anderson 3 Comments Filed Under: Adult Spirituality, Awareness, Gratitude, Happiness, Love, Now/ the Present
The primary cause of mental illness, Karl Menninger said, is the inability of people to forgive themselves for being imperfect. Those words came from Frank Griswold, the former Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, preaching at Saint Luke’s this morning. He was speaking of St. Paul, who sought famously to perfect himself through a rigorous […]
by David Anderson 6 Comments Filed Under: Faith/Trust, Grace, Gratitude, Happiness, Letting Go, Mercy, Patience, Suffering, Surrender, Transformation
I’m grateful for today’s guest post from my wife, Pam Anderson, who, along with my two daughters, blogs at threemanycooks.com. David and I have lived in Darien for eleven years now—the same amount of time we were in Bucks County before moving back here. Last winter I suggested to David that, come spring, maybe […]
by David Anderson 7 Comments Filed Under: Abundance, Awareness, Freedom, Gratitude, Happiness, Letting Go, Uncategorized
It is Christmas Eve, the night when God comes for us, comes in the only way we could receive God-with-us. If the infinite God is to reach us finite humans, there will have to be some translation, some accommodation. And all the work will have to be on God’s part. There is an affecting story, […]
by David Anderson 5 Comments Filed Under: Grace, Gratitude, Love, Mercy
Thanksgiving is always about bounty, cornucopia, an overflowing with excess. Yet many of us are not feeling cornucopian these days. For some few at the top the bounty is flowing, but the rest of us are still struggling. We’re not feeling the Thanksgiving. In the gospels Jesus tells us, “Do not worry about your life, […]
by David Anderson 9 Comments Filed Under: Abundance, Grace, Gratitude, Happiness
This from a friend: I take the MetroNorth railroad from CT to NYC every day and have seen this billboard which just says, “GRATTITUDE” right above the Sin City Gentleman’s Club at 125th Street in Harlem for probably years now and have always wondered what it meant. Googled it this morning, and this is the […]
by David Anderson 5 Comments Filed Under: Abundance, Awareness, Gratitude, Happiness
I love to eat. But make it fast. So, along with twenty-five of my colleagues at a recent clergy conference, I grumble when we are told that at lunch today we will begin with an exercise in mindful eating. We are to get our food from the buffet, sit and wait for everyone to begin […]
by David Anderson 4 Comments Filed Under: Awareness, Daily Practice, Gratitude, Now/ the Present, Seeing