by David Anderson
I love to run in new places. At home I run the same loop—it takes me down to Long Island Sound and it’s beautiful, but I know it so well that I can almost run it blind. This morning I am running in Knoxville, Tennessee, where my father lives. I am a little stiff. My […]
by David Anderson 9 Comments Filed Under: Awareness, Gratitude, Nature/Creation, Now/ the Present, Seeing
We just don’t argue anymore. I spent the weekend with my six brothers and sisters—along with all our husbands and wives, except for my brother-in-law Larry in Kuwait. We were in Knoxville for a late celebration of my father’s 94th birthday. And we didn’t argue or fight. Which is saying something in this family. Twenty […]
by David Anderson 5 Comments Filed Under: Conflict, Family, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Love
On Saturday my father, Gerald Anderson, turned 94. My brother wrote a birthday email and copied all seven of us siblings and all the in-laws. He ended by listing five gifts that Dad has passed on to all of us. 1. That you know yourself to be loved by God, 2. That you have lived in […]
by David Anderson 9 Comments Filed Under: Character, Daily Practice, Faithfulness, Family, Grace, Gratitude, Happiness
Some years ago I was enjoying a Shrove Tuesday pancake supper, when a parishioner came to me and said, “I want you to meet a friend.” I could see a woman with white hair sitting at her table. We walked over, I shook her hand and said, “Hello, my name is David Anderson.” She said, […]
by David Anderson 5 Comments Filed Under: Daily Practice, Faith/Trust, Gratitude, Happiness, Now/ the Present
A woman told me yesterday of her journey to see her grandchildren in Colorado. I asked how the time had been. Immediately she opened the trove of pictures on her phone and showed me an iconic image. It was a little girl smiling over a birthday cake all lit with candles. Five of them. The […]
by David Anderson 1 Comment Filed Under: Adult Spirituality, Faith/Trust, Gratitude, Happiness, Now/ the Present, Reality--trusting it
When I was young I loved to watch Let’s Make a Deal. You know how this game show works. Monty Hall chooses someone from the audience and you’re given some entry-level prize, a TV or a wad of cash. But then Monty offers you the opportunity to trade for another prize—for what’s behind door number […]
by David Anderson 5 Comments Filed Under: Abundance, Gratitude, Happiness, Money, Reality--trusting it, Seeing
“It was a cold, rainy Sunday evening in April: the kind of night that would depress anyone.” So begins an inspiring story by theologian Carol Noren. The bad weather had ruined people’s plans for the weekend, and another week of work would begin the next morning. I was living hundreds of miles from family and […]
by David Anderson 6 Comments Filed Under: Abundance, Gratitude, Reality--trusting it
“Money can’t buy happiness.” Turns out, it’s not so. Michael Norton, a professor at Harvard Business School, has done extensive research on money and happiness, and Norton says in fact money can buy happiness. It’s just that we usually spend on the wrong things. Norton’s team did a little experiment. They went to the University […]
by David Anderson 2 Comments Filed Under: Faith in Action, Gratitude, Happiness, Money, Service