Author: alwaysbridging

Almost five years ago my husband Rob had major surgery to address advanced cancer. Now, thank God, his oncologist is starting to whisper “cure.”

Yesterday, we visited a friend who had the same procedure two weeks ago. I have revisited the trauma and grief of Rob’s early recovery this week as we prepared food to take along. Late one night I reviewed five years worth of photos, searching for cartoons to send in morning texts to his wife, the ones that have been encouraging life blood for me over the years. And I wept.

As we headed home after the visit, we met the Bird King himself and marveled.

Leaning there, I was flooded with warmth and appreciation for this man, my man, who suffered so and now can be light at the end of a long tunnel for someone else.

We had a wonderful substitute choir director on Sunday. She told us if we do it musically, we can never go wrong. How’s that for good advice for life?

Yesterday my mother and I went to the movies. Since she’s almost 96, we can count on a few age-related snags on our outings. There were several. Here’s one suitable for public consumption: Someone parked less than a foot from the passenger side of my car so, after the show, Mom had to manage getting into the back seat behind me. Once we were all strapped in and ready for take-off, she exclaimed, “Well, this is different. Different but necessary.”

The most unusual part for me was my quiet mind. I am irritated when inconvenienced, often with her. Could it be that the petition for quiet minds during the benediction on Ash Wednesday, the ask I have been repeating since then, is taking hold?

Religious Language

Our daughter Carolina is off to Australia! On Saturday we met midday near the airport.

As usual she got me thinking when she asked, “Can I share a thought about your blog?”

With some trepidation, I answered, “Yes?”

“I know it’s Lent and all. But I thought you wanted to increase your readership. The language you’ve used so far could limit who’s interested. Religious language can be polarizing.”

Of course, she has a point. And, after all, my desire is to welcome and build bridges, not separate by building walls.

Then again, during this first week I recognize that this round of daily posts for me is not about the wide world of potential audience members out there. Instead I notice how my heart warms when a guest author posts. I perk up. I am curious. I delight. Lent 2024 is about relationships. About providing a platform. And seeing what I can do to make this smooth and warm and maybe even delightful for them too.

My hope is that my use of religious language can also be live love language, especially for those I relate with directly.

I was thrilled yesterday to watch this short video about our upcoming pilgrimage. For one thing the five cities on the itinerary were listed succinctly: Atlanta, Montgomery, Selma, Birmingham, and Memphis. I can pray for these cities and for The Rev Canon Carla Robinson (she narrates the video) as we prepare to travel together.

I felt proud to have already registered because I bet the trip will fill in a hot second now that this promotion is circulating on YouTube.