Encouragement for Faithful Writers everywhere. Please share with your writing friends. Reading time: about four minutes. May 25, 2019 Faithful Reflection: Step outside for inspiration This morning I sat on the bench right outside my kitchen window, well equipped with a notebook, pen, binoculars, camera, and—most important of all—a steaming hot mug of coffee, the […]
Faith (Connect with God)
Faithful Writers Toolkit April 2019
Encouragement for Faithful Writers everywhere. Please share with your writing friends. Reading time: less than three minutes. April 29, 2019 My Faithful Writing friends: Spring greetings to you from the Shenandoah Valley! I’m sorry I don’t have a Faithful Writer spotlight this month. Between Holy Week and Easter activities and some eldercare issues, it just […]
“He’s Alive!” — Easter Morning’s Powerful Cry
After the horror of Jesus’s crucifixion, suffering, and death, as the disciples huddled in fear and disbelief, imagine how they felt when they first heard the joyful cry, “He’s Alive!” From abject fear to utter joy and liberation Our churches don’t often dwell on the awful time between the suffering and death of Jesus on […]
It Is Finished… The Profound Last Words Of Christ
Last words matter As a physician, my husband was sometimes present during that sacred moment when a patient passed from life to death. Often there were no “last words,” because the patient was already unconscious, but when a patient spoke at this time, everyone in the room strained to hear, because “last words” can be […]
Book Review: On The Brink Of Everything by Parker J. Palmer
On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old by Parker J. Palmer Reviewed by Elizabeth H. Cottrell Published 2018 240 pages (Hardcover edition) 5 stars out of 5 Parker J. Palmer is among my favorite authors because he writes beautifully and honestly about the questions, challenges, and paradoxes of life. His writing explores, […]
March Faithful Writers Tookit
Encouragement for Faithful Writers everywhere. Please share with your writing friends. Reading time: less than three minutes. March 23, 2019 Faithful Reflection: Contemplative Prayer In the last few months, I’ve been practicing contemplative prayer—meditation—almost daily. I use an app recommended by Jean Wise called Centering Prayer, and I set it for 20 minutes (I started […]
Let The Spirit Of St. Patrick Feed Your Heart And Soul
Collect for Saint Patrick The Feast of Saint Patrick honors the venerated bishop/missionary who walked the green hills of Ireland in the fifth century. It is celebrated as both a liturgical and nonliturgical holiday on March 17 and has become a celebration of Ireland itself. Almighty God, in your providence you chose your servant Patrick […]
February Faithful Writer’s Tookit
Encouragement for Faithful Writers everywhere. Please share with your writing friends. Reading time: less than 4 minutes. Faithful Reflection: Remember the seasons As I write this in mid-February in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, we’ve just had five inches of snow, and sleet is now falling on top of that. We’ll be inside until the […]