eleven:eleven

I remember the first time I was awestruck by a sudden observation (or call it a question), that life, that living, was so much more than simply being entertained.

Many years ago, the ruler of a large kingdom approached his three daughters and told them he would be leaving the kingdom for a period of time and not sure about his return.

Salt has as much to do with who we really are as with what else we might bring. What if Jesus was simply saying, “You’re salt. You’re the substance of life. So, be like salt. Being who you truly are will bring life to this life.”

How do you build a bridge from your heart to another’s heart, across your fear and through another’s? This is our conversation on Sunday. Let’s talk about building bridges and redemptive moments that remind us that the creative urge in all of us is really about connection.

So, it’s a New Year. 2020! The Internet is filled with New Year’s resolutions on how to get there – Ten Steps to a Better, Happier You, Five Way to Lose 5 lbs!, 100 Ways to Be More Creative. We love it when we can map it out – The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, The Eightfold Path, The Ten Commandments, the Four Spiritual Laws. Life is full of maps, guide books, steps, and techniques for living it better, for getting us where we want to go (or at least where we think we ought to be).

As I write, we have approximately 168 hours left, give or take a few minutes, to get Christmas right this year. Really right — you know, the Christmas cards mailed. The tree and lights and all the right ornaments up, the Dickens Villages and the family holiday heirlooms all in their places.

Christmas at the McDermott’s was at my mother’s house every year I can remember as a teenager and later as an adult. Grandmother’s lipstick kisses on the cheeks when I was younger, and uncles with vice grip handshakes.

It is what I was born for: to look, to listen inside this soft world — to instruct myself over and over. — mary oliver There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a…