My family has shown me the Light through their hospitality.  When my grandparents were young adults, they hosted a weekly event at First Friends Meeting.  It was called “Friday Nights."   I think this happened in the late 1930’s.... [more]

Query: When did your family, or a neighbor, or a teacher help you see something special about yourself or the world around you?
 

My substitute teacher made me feel good about my birthday.  She was really nice to us.  She... [more]

"If you believe you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Mt. 21:22

I have learned more from Kate about compassion and empathy than from all of the books, theology, teaching and wise counsel yet received. Kate is my 27-year-old... [more]

Our room was shaped like an L — my sister Kathy’s bed at one end and mine at the other.  Four years stretched between us. Sometimes it was a small stretch, like our room. At other times, those four years... [more]

When I was growing up, my grandmother practiced a very different faith tradition than the one I was raised in.  It seemed alien to me, and parts of it were even disturbing.  She once told me a story, however, that... [more]

I cried in the car recently.  As everyone knows, cars have a no-crying-allowed rule.

My daughter has an ongoing tantrum problem, and we’ve been at wit’s end trying to figure out how to stop them, or at least shorten them.  So... [more]

At some point in our childhood the painting of the farmer and his wife giving thanks in a field of freshly dug potatoes was taken down from its place above the dining table, and replaced with a photo of an... [more]

The web of Alzheimer’s disease is a thief of the worst sort. Much like a spider, it sucks out bit by bit a loved one’s mind and personality so that eventually only a barely functioning shell remains. The web... [more]

One hot summer day about five years ago, I found my sister deceased in her apartment.  I felt that her Spirit had definitely departed. Thankfully, she was with God, but it broke my heart at the time. Although 12... [more]

As a child, I listened to the story of Saul's conversion and transformation into Paul.  The story made it sound easy; well, maybe a little scary too.  Saul is on the road to Damascus and God comes to him. ... [more]

Sometimes Light comes to us as a gentle glow, other times a glaring searchlight. Raising kids is a crash course in blinding light and the afterglow. One event stands out among many.

My sister-in-law was fighting cancer in California. On a... [more]

Editors’ note: This story may be a trigger for victims of abuse.  Please make sure you are in a safe place when you read.

One night when I was ten, I woke up to an overwhelming presence.... [more]

My mother, Louzelle, was the clearest and earliest manifestation of God for me.  She was spiritually and physically present in her quiet, strong love, which never stopped even when our paths diverged.  She taught me, by being herself, to see... [more]

It’s a lesson too late for the learnin’

made of sand, made of sand

In the wink of an eye my soul is turnin’

in your hand, in your hand. . .

Are you goin’ away with no word of farewell,

Will there be not... [more]