by David Anderson
He lay there with only his diaper on, my grandson Dashiell. It was seven o’clock, time for his bedtime rituals. My wife, who adores this eight week-old child, is ready to give Dash his massage. She dips her hands in coconut oil and begins to stroke his stomach. She rubs his legs and presses her […]
by David Anderson 15 Comments Filed Under: Blessing, Family, Healing, Intimacy, Love
Priests and ministers get calls from the local funeral home all the time. Someone has died. They may have been Methodist or Lutheran or Episcopalian, whatever the denomination of your church, but that’s the only, tenuous connection. Would you come and do a service? I walked into the funeral home and met the two daughters. […]
by David Anderson 2 Comments Filed Under: Blessing, Conflict, Family, Grace, Listening, Love
I received this alert, and it’s the kind of warning that–in this Advent season–I am delighted to pass on. Symptoms of Inner Peace Be on the lookout for symptoms of inner peace. The hearts of a great many have already been exposed to inner peace and it is possible that people everywhere could come down […]
by David Anderson 6 Comments Filed Under: Awareness, Breathing, Daily Practice, Faith/Trust, Fear, Forgiveness, Happiness, Letting Go, Love, Now/ the Present, Patience, Surrender, Uncategorized
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
Pam and I spent the weekend with our parents: Pam with her mother and I with my father. Her father died only a year ago or so, and my mother is gone fifteen years now. Both our parents—vigorous in their old age—have suffered setbacks in the last six months. Pam’s mother is on hospice, […]
by David Anderson 13 Comments Filed Under: Conflict, Family, Forgiveness, Happiness, Healing, Letting Go, Love, Now/ the Present
“I know what my calling is,” Brenda said. She is a cancer survivor, alive today, she told me, because three women had carried her on their prayers from fear and death to healing and life. She went on . . . I’ll give you an example. I went for a scan, and I’m so […]
by David Anderson 8 Comments Filed Under: Fear, Healing, Hope, Love, Vocation/ Calling
“Hurricane Fay to fade, but Gonzalo waits in the wings.” My home page opens to NBC News, and this is the latest headline. If we are disappointed that Fay has faded, it means to say, there is yet more to worry about. Ganzalo waits in the wings. Polls show that Americans are increasingly afraid. We […]
by David Anderson 3 Comments Filed Under: Daily Practice, Faith/Trust, Fear, Happiness, Letting Go, Love, Surrender
“It is never too late to love.” That’s what a good friend told me this week. I was telling her of a kind of break-through: I had learned to love someone a little better, to forgive someone (and pardon myself as well). It felt good, but almost immediately I thought, “I wish I had come […]
by David Anderson 6 Comments Filed Under: Death/Dying, Forgiveness, Happiness, Letting Go, Love, Mercy, Now/ the Present