Each week during the winter months of the year just past, our Confirmation students would arrive, shivering in the central California coolness, for our very early 8:45 a.m. Sunday classes. My husband would gather wood from a nearby pile and light a fire in the lovely fireplace in our gathering space. One by one, the girls […]
What an Australian Bushfire Taught Me About Faith
by on August 12, 2018 2 Comments
By Madeline Twooney When l was six years old, l experienced my first bushfire. I grew up in Victoria, Australia, in a set of low rural mountain ranges called the Dandenongs about 35km east of Melbourne. That summer had been a real scorcher, with little rainfall and strong winds. The majestic eucalyptus gums that surrounded […]
For the Storyholders
by on May 3, 2018 15 Comments
I sit across from a woman I have just met. Several of us have gathered in a coffee shop on the other side of the country, all attendees of a large writing conference. A few have known each other for years. But others are connecting for the first time. It’s a little odd meeting people […]
The Sacrament of Childbirth
by on March 1, 2018 11 Comments
I was shocked by how similar childbirth was to watching my father-in-law die. There is the pacing, the patience, the impatience, the watching for signs of death—or life. The living room transforms into a tunnel where the outside world is fuzzy and out of focus and inside, all senses are heightened. As the time for […]
The Secret of Unfurling
by on February 22, 2018 14 Comments
Can I tell you something? For too long I heard wrong. And misunderstood the language of the years. This mistake shaped me for a time. Calendars flipped and my body curved and still I was quiet. Each year sifted down upon my head and slowly I became hidden. But see this– Look with me at […]
