Suddenly and unprepared

I come to this week with a heavy heart. My lifelong friend Michelle died two weeks ago, unexpectedly and without warning. In the Great Litany (1549), Thomas Cranmer prays that we might be saved from dying "suddenly and unprepared." Michelle was an international judo champion, a strong and independent soul. I suspect that forensic tests will show that she experienced significant...

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Hidden Pain, Hidden Treasures

In the springtime, my mother would bring lilacs inside, big armfuls of them, and put them in deep burgundy glass vases. Their fresh and wild scent filled the house, wafting through screen windows that had been hand-changed, from storms to screens, only weeks before. And maybe that’s why they smelled so good. In Minnesota, springtime is earned, not taken for granted....

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