Dear Friends, This past Sunday, we were supposed to install three, new queen bees into the hive boxes at the far edge of the meadow. Volunteers were standing at the ready to help, my oldest daughter agreed to provide the video documentation, Gene (our beekeeper) had the protective beekeeper suits at the ready. The weather, however, didn’t cooperate. The bees are from the warm, southern state of Georgia, and Gene said he couldn’t bear the thought of putting them in the cold wooden supers. We waited until the warm weather of Monday before installing them in their new homes. Gene...
Dear Friends, With only minutes to go before the opening reception for the Center’s program “An Evening on Non-Violence,” Angela (Director of Marketing and Development) focuses on artfully arranging clusters of grapes on the platter; Sr. Maria scrambles to find the wine bottle opener; Elizabeth (Director of Hosted Groups) samples a sliver of cheese. I run downstairs to rummage for more forks. The laughter drifts into the stairwell as someone teases Joziah (Digital Media Manager) for being a “man of mystery.” I see and welcome our exhibiting artist, Pamela Flynn, then chat with her co-presenter, Patricia Griffin. Guests arrive and...
The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:40 Dear Friends, Over the holiday break, I read and re-read the book (marking up its pages, creasing the back cover) that Sr. Mary had lent to me: The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness (Avid Reader Press, 2021), written by Gregory Boyle. A Jesuit priest who founded Homeboy Industries in East Los Angeles, Fr. Gregory describes through laughter and tears his experiences working with the former gang members and persons...
“Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.” Matthew 11:15 Dear Friends, My husband’s heart beat so hard, I could feel it through the fabric of his shirt.He was anxious, worried, but after a series of tests, the doctors have assured him that the jangling beat–while uncomfortable–is relatively harmless; something, they tell us, to simply be aware of, to listen for.I rest my cheek against the hollow of his collarbone and am mindful of how much our nearly thirty-five years of marriage have opened and deepened our lives, together. This morning, I stood in the very center of Cranaleith’s...
