A bunch of months ago---an embarrassing number of months, in fact-- I had the happy fortune to win a candle in a giveaway from Paul Robinett Aromatherapy Candles. So delighted was I with the winning of something, and so pleased with the candle itself, and so thankful for the gift of a prize, that I couldn't wait to tell all of you about it. Except ( Read more... )

…which is interesting, as the subtitle of my journal is "my heart ain't built to stay." Meaning, of course, that it's not created to be satisfied with this life only, that it longs for a place more than a mere improvement on this one, but something wholly different. Yet my heart was also built for joy while I stay, and sometimes I manage that, and ( Read more... )

1. Write about leaving ( Read more... )

There was a time I journaled almost every day. Facebook is, really, a kind of daily journal -- remember those books with a space for every day of the year, but only one or two lines? "Began preparations for fish stew today." Something like that. And we're all learning to pack a lot more into our shortened sentences, I think. I like that. Language ( Read more... )

...Not to disparage at all our existing friendships grounded in empathy and common interests, I swear. But I’ve been thinking a lot about this idea: To say "I love a person for reasons X, Y, and Z-" is natural, but also a way of setting conditions on love. If X, Y, and Z were taken away, or if I changed, and X, Y, and Z no longer interested, ( Read more... )

A 4 o clock spirit (80 % angel, 10 % demon, the rest -- ? well, it's hard to explain.) has taken up residence in our household. It's more benevolent, to be sure, than the 3 o clock spirit, which is 100% evil. (I wonder if I can banish it by waving branches of smoking rosemary around my windows.)

So I was in SUCH a mood this morning. So irritated to ( Read more... )

I miss journaling in earnest, but I'm never really sure where to pick up ( Read more... )

"Again, as I had often met it in my own church, I was confronted with the Impurity of Women doctrine that seemed to preoccupy all clergymen."  -To Kill a Mockingbird

Dear Clergymen:

Yes, you have an enemy, and he (he!) has a name, and I am not, by virtue of gender, his tool.

Your Sister,

L. Marie Henderson

since I never

*offer proof of my love for Jesus on facebook in response to what feels -- to me -- like little less than a manipulative dare (the Bible says! if you deny Him! et-foolish-cetera!)
or
*obey the
"if you have a spouse/son/daughter who does x, y, and z, then cheapen your appreciation by declaring them the 'best ever.... '"
exhortation, because ( Read more... )

"... the little side courtyard, with its statue of Jesus. He held his arms up delicately, hands out, as though he were about to catch a pass that you just knew he'd drop. I stood and gripped the bars...I know. The symbolism. It's not good. I'm on the outside, Jesus is on the inside. There's a fence between us. I wasn't so drunk I didn't recognize ( Read more... )