Turning the Ordinary into Ceremony My Tuesday started out just like any other, with me looking forward to my weekly coffee visit with MG, who stops by on her way to work. Our “chat” usually involves scrolling through her TikTok feed and sharing funny videos of small animals and babies she knows will make me laugh. But this Tuesday was different. The rhythm broke, as rhythms sometimes do, with sad news. Tea, one of MG’s…
2 CommentsCategory: prayer
Many aspects of my Navy training were about preparing for the unexpected—fire drills, uniform inspections, and man overboard drills. Each one is designed to help those training in the Navy to respond quickly and efficiently when things go wrong. Just last week, while sitting along the Severn River, the sound of six short blasts on a ship’s whistle pulled me right back to those drills. The Man Overboard call. It all came flooding back—the urgency,…
1 CommentHave you ever noticed that 2 am seems to be the perfect time for your brain to unload all the thoughts that somehow stay quiet during the day? It’s as though my mind decides that now, with the house dark and silent, it’s the ideal time to declutter the stored chatter. This late-night surge of thoughts feels oddly familiar and powerful, and if you’ve experienced it, you know exactly what I mean. Over the past…
Leave a CommentPublic speaking often stirs up a great deal of anxiety. A friend of mine, who frequently trains others in public speaking, had a way of calming nervous speakers before they took the stage. She would reassure them by saying, “Don’t worry, it’s in your bones.” What she meant was that they were sharing something deeply familiar to them, something instinctively known. Sometimes, we need others to remind us of what is already instinctive and so…
Leave a Comment