This weekend I had the privilege of being in Northern Ireland to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of my cousin G (that’s a different post). I was also extremely fortunate to share a few meals with Auntie P and her husband of 10 years, Dr. G. Auntie P, like my mother, is from Northern Ireland, and her mother, like my …
New Birth, New Life
This week I had the privilege of visiting a leader of one of our community groups who’s become a friend. In the last several months, she’s taken a hiatus from her group because she’s become the mother of a sweet little girl called Hannah! Hannah is a miracle birth. Her parents married later in life and had been trying for …
Transitions
As a new year begins, I’ve been reflecting on losses I experienced in 2013. Since I’m getting older – this will be my year of Jubilee, where I celebrate a half-century of life (gulp!) – thoughts of one’s mortality and that of others feature more prominently…. Almost a year ago today, a well-loved, justice-minded, 50-something physician, Brian, went for a …
Mandela’s Long Walk
Tomorrow, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, the Weinstein’s film based on Nelson Mandela’s authorized autobiography opens. For the first time, I along with a few hundred others – including a handful of Redeemer leaders – had the opportunity to attend the film’s premiere on Monday night. Among those who made an appearance on the stage before the start of the …
Friendship with Alicia
In a church with an average age of 33, it’s rare to attend a memorial service for someone who was her early 30s. Yet I recently found myself in the sanctuary of 150 W83rd – I’m yet to attend a wedding there – remembering Alicia, along with her friends and family. Less than a year ago, doctors discovered a cancerous …
A Man of the People
I learned this morning that Chinua Achebe, the Nigerian writer, had died at the age of 82 and I wept. I never met him and only briefly heard him speak when he was honored in New York, on the 50th anniversary of his best known and widely published novel, THINGS FALL APART. What I recall so vividly from that evening …
The Silence of Geography
What is it about the culture here that seems to delight in perpetuating the myth that Africa is a monolithic place, rather than a continent of over 50 nations with hundreds of different ethnic groups represented and over a thousand languages spoken? Here are a few recent observations: 1. An update goes out from our church. In describing part of …
Faithful Presence
This past week I had a brief elevator conversation with Mr. O, a porter who works in my building. Among the things he does are empty our recycling, assemble our garbage, and sweep and mop the floors. He is unfailing cheerful and helpful. I once paid him a mere $20 to get rid of my futon couch to make way …
Kisses from Katie
In the daily barrage of grim news occurring all over the world from the collapse of the Euro, to the latest drone attack in Pakistan, to the latest plane falling out of the sky, I’ve been needing to be reminded that a single ordinary person can radically change the life of another by giving her life away. If you’re feeling …
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