The Sage Forum January article: Rebutting Body Shame
“Rebutting Body Shame” first appeared in The Sage Forum’s January 2025 Newsletter. In the late 70s, my mother-in-law’s younger sister entered a women’s magazine make-over contest. Pat was in her mid-forties, a Harvard JD, teaching law at a prestigious university....
Humility, my word for 2025: relational, personal, spiritual
Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience… Colossians 3:12 ESV Was I thinking about humility yesterday morning, as I heard the words in the second reading? Or as I listened to a woman,...
Wishing you a blessed Christmas with this gift of music
My gift to you first appeared in The Sage Forum’s December 2024 newsletter. Carole Duff, flute, Carolyn Wallace, organ “He Shall Feed His Flock” from Handel’s Messiah Performed at Bethany Lutheran Church in Fishersville, VA....
Long in time and goodness, gratitude and praise, waiting and hope
How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? Psalm 13:1 NIV Yesterday, snow and sleet yielded to lamentable cold rain. For those facing illness and death, their own or loved ones’, this is an apt description of the season....
Holiday Stuff: material stuff, activities, and the real stuff
“So much good stuff here, so much good stuff to do at home,” I thought as I took this picture at Saturday morning’s Winter Market at the Rockfish Valley Community Center. Keith and I will sell our books at the Holiday Market next week—that’s it until next year or...
To trade, buy, sell, exchange, or not—that is the question
“Ugh, Black Friday, I’d trade almost anything not to be shopping today,” I said to Keith. We were driving home from Thanksgiving with family in northern Virginia and backed up in traffic which was exiting for a large local shopping mall. Trade is about buying...