A Gentle Madness

Community / Family / Hospitality / Maturity and Flourishing / Ordinary Life / Work and Rest

“People have always collected things. Whether a vestige of our hunter-gatherer days, a need to forge order amid chaos, or a simple desire to…

Taking the Long View in a Life of Hospitality

Hospitality / Safe Place

I have a love/hate relationship with hospitality. That may seem a strange thing to say about a practice that’s necessary and good, highly valued…

The Solace of Asparagus

Creation / Family / Hospitality / Safe Place / Spirituality

[Note: “This article originally appeared on June 19, 2009 in Comment, a publication of CARDUS: www.cardus.ca.”] The first meal I prepared for the man…

Wooden Clocks and Tiny Silver Balls

Community / Family / Hospitality / Ordinary Life / Work and Rest

When I grew up and moved away I rarely saw them. But in December of every year I especially remember my grandparents. Each December…

Nourishing Gratitude: Being Thankful, Again

Hospitality / Maturity and Flourishing / Work and Rest

One of the dangers of a comfortable life is that comfort becomes our norm. So, we notice when events dip below that standard, but…

Margie’s 2012 Christmas Gift List

Books / Hospitality

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett I’m not certain this book will satisfy everyone. But the characters will not leave my head. The sign…

Fleeting

Family / Hospitality / Ordinary Life / Work and Rest

On a morning late in April I woke and couldn’t remember where I was. There had been too many beds that month. When I…

Margie’s 2011 Christmas Gift List

Books / Hospitality

Stone by Design by Lew French, Gibbs Smith, 2005. (non-fiction) Stone by Design must be the best book yet on building and landscaping with…

Summer Shorts

Family / Hospitality / Ordinary Life / Spirituality / Work and Rest

In a moment of general regret my husband said: “I’m sorry.” He was looking at me with tears in his eyes. I thought he…

Offhanded Joy

Community / Faith / Hospitality / Maturity and Flourishing / Ordinary Life / Safe Place / Work and Rest

Dedicated: To my friends who helped the homeless of Louisiana. To those whose ate mangoes on a beach in Hawaii while their water pipes…