Dear Reader
For much of this past year my world was saturated with words
too heavy to write or speak. During that year, loved ones have died and my
husband Bill still bears the scars of his encounters with respiratory failure,
diabetic crisis and double pneumonia. Though it was spring, I felt muffled in a
winter world. I moved through each day in a strange inner silence, capable only
of coping with visits to the ICU and weeks of entire days spent in three
different hospitals. Bill returned home in such a frail and weakened condition I
moved in a vaporous world of uncertainty. Would today be my last with him?
Would I be alone tomorrow? Thanks, however, to the effort of a blessed crew of
doctors, nurses, and therapists and courageous efforts of his own, he is
growing stronger. Buoyed by hope and filled with gratitude, I can now reach for
words with which to reconnect with you, to let you know that though I was
silent, you were never far from my mind.
Conscious of the rapid
passage of time and my approaching 80th birthday, I wake each
morning with a renewed sense of wonder at the gift of life. Bill is still with
me and gratitude floods the entire day. I feel an added sense of responsibility
to use this time well.
“We must trust in the small light we are given and to value the light
we can shed into the lives of those around us . . . We live in a world alive
with holy moments. We need only take the time to bring these moments into the
light,” writes Kent Wilburn in his lovely little book
Small Graces. I
first encountered his writings in 1998 when we moved to Lake Superior’s North
Shore. In an environment live with miracles, his quiet reflective words
mirrored my desire to live a spiritual life and that is how I’ve tried to live
most of my life. To remain open to the light present in every moment. To
welcome each day as the miracle it is.
 |
Assisi Heights MN |
Our small book club is thriving. Together we delight in
discovering the creative world within us. It has renewed my love of writing. While
I have still not finished with The Glass Chrysalis, I’ve been working on
bringing The Scent of God, which had gone out of print, back to life.
I’d hoped to announce the publication of the new edition in this newsletter but
life intervened and its rebirth has been delayed. It includes a wonderful new
cover, beautiful interior design, the addition of an Introduction and an updated
afterword. It should be ready early this fall. I shall keep you informed.
Meanwhile, may you be strong, may you be happy, may you be
healthy. May you live your life with gladness. (Prayer of Loving Kindness)