Strive to be other-centered, strive to be planted, strive to grow
Keith and I don’t strive to make our home beautiful, especially this time of year. God does all the nature work. But human nature gives us many opportunities to strive to be better, more faithful people. Strive to be other-centered Have you ever had one of...
Clarify who I am: a believer, a list-maker, a writer
While taking notes at Saturday afternoon’s neighborhood association meeting, I asked questions to clarify, that is, to understand the statement or situation more clearly. Being the secretary-treasurer, I wanted to be sure that the minutes were comprehensible to...
Anticipate, like you’re leaning into the music, and watch me.
Here at Vanaprastha, we anticipate winter by leaning into fall and watching. See the red-tipped maple, the turning leaves of the Virginia Sweetspire, and the berry-laden Cranberry Viburnum. How else do we anticipate? Anticipate as a verb: to be earlier than During...
Attempt, essay, make an effort to achieve what we aspire to—or not
With the outbreak of war in Israel, an attempt at peace seems difficult if not impossible. And yet we pray, make the effort, and try. Such is the case in all we do, right? Attempt: to essay, make an effort to achieve or complete something difficult Last...
Copy: a single specimen, transcript, reproduction, or imitation
“Here’s my book,” Keith said as he handed a copy of his novel The Starflower to the appliance technician. Our oven heating element had broken, and the damage from the resulting explosion was beyond our DIY abilities. Plus, it was fun to chat with this guy, because...
Boomer opinion, Gen Me opinion, all generation truth
Here’s a blast from the past story about my personal opinion versus his professional opinion, both generation opinion biased. My boomer generation opinion It was 1991, and I was carpooling two bunheads to after-school ballet class. “Hey Jessica, did the self-esteem...