Playing House The milk separator was spinning and loudly clanking in the corner of the room doing its magic: separating the rich, delicious cream from the milk. The watery substance left behind (sold in today’s market as skim milk) was tossed out to the pigs. Vickie and I were playing house. I was six or... Continue Reading →
Suffering is … ?
Bad theology keeps us up at night! I've spent years sorting through the reasons given for suffering. Several years ago I wrote briefly about what I called a child-like theodicy. I described how my older, disabled sister and I tried to make sense out of why she was born with cerebral palsy. We knew in... Continue Reading →
Community & Covid
What do you see? "See it," she asked in an excited voice, bubbling with glee! "See what?" I asked, quickly scanning the small screen on my phone for clues. I noticed her silver cup in the blue, cleverly designed swivel device. Years ago when she first moved into this new facility she was too shy... Continue Reading →
The Mad Rooster
Gift of Outdoors If she could, my sister Vickie would spend most of her time outdoors. She's an animal lover and a tree-hugger! If you have spent much time with her you might conclude she's a sun-worshipper, too! Oh, don't mistake her for a pagan (whatever that even means)! My sister has a better handle... Continue Reading →
“Joys of Milking Time,” Part 2
Milking Time I pushed back my laptop so she could see the opened notebook and pen in my hand. “Ok, I'm ready. What is your first story?" "Barn." "Me watch dad milk cows!" It took me by surprise how easily she recounted an event from over sixty years ago. Clearly this was an enjoyable memory... Continue Reading →
“Joys of Milking Time,” Part 1
"More book!" Her big smile greeted me on the FB screen early in the morning. She was so excited to tell me something, that I barely had time to say hello. "What's going on?" I asked, anticipating a tidbit of gossip about someone at the manor. "More book!" She said, grinning from ear to ear.... Continue Reading →
My Sister and Me: The Gift of Communicating
My phone rang early in the morning about a week or so ago. I knew it was a FB Portal call from my older sister who resides at a Manor in a small town in Nebraska. Around the beginning of the Covid pandemic the manor purchased a Facebook Portal for her room. This device is... Continue Reading →
Who Tells the Story?
Telling Stories. In my last post, A Worthy Life, I wrote about my desire to write my sister Vickie's story -- of her long life from a wheelchair. As soon as I uploaded to my blog, several questions began to swirl in my head. Who has the right to tell our stories?Do I have the... Continue Reading →
A Worthy Life
The subject of 'disability theology' came up a couple days ago in a FB group I'm in. I had not heard of that specific category of theology. I've done lots of thinking and reading on suffering, all within the category of theodicy—that space where we defend or reject God's role in the evil that plagues... Continue Reading →