Is it possible to bring any kind of lasting goodness from events that caused overwhelming loss? It was FDR who, on December 8th 1941, referred to the preceding day — when Pearl Harbor was attacked, bringing the United States into World War II — as one that will “live in infamy.” September 11th, 2001, became another. No matter the glorious weather, we still feel a shudder each time this somber anniversary arrives, mourning the devastating loss of life and the … Read More The post Unveiling a Statue, and a New School Year appeared first on The Panorama of a Pastor's Wife ..read more

When you get what you asked for, it’s normal to feel happy/excited/relieved…as well as uneasy/anxious/unworthy. At least this is what I’m telling myself these days as I begin to work with the publishing company that has graciously agreed to get my manuscript, becoming a real book, out. Our target date is Spring of ’25, so I have plenty of time to fret and to take deep breaths. Well, maybe not all that much time. The fact is, it’s remarkably easy … Read More The post Why I Started All This appeared first on The Panorama of a Pastor's Wife ..read more

What are your preferred ways of marking time? I mean besides clocks for the minutes and hours, and calendars for the weeks and months. What kinds of happenings — events that come around every so often — or tangible things prod you to reflect back on years gone by, and people no longer living? Remembering a Giant on the Field This framed photograph was among my brother Sandy’s possessions, some of which I have in a box downstairs. On the back, someone had written: “Polo Grounds/ Chicago Cubs v. New York Giants/ at bat #24, Willie Mays.” Sandy, a lifelong sports enthusiast, had always felt a ki ..read more

This manuscript will become an actual book launched into the world. It’s been a journey all right. When I started this blog, almost 13 years ago, I sensed that I was headed in this direction — kept a big blue three-ring binder which I called my “clergy wife journal,” tried to capture particular moments that felt at once ordinary and also spectacular, began to write essays that got published in the local newspaper. Eventually, I started drafting a couple of whole chapters — more like bunches of pages on certain topics — without knowing what the larger structure would be. Then, in 2017, I broug ..read more

Sometimes, try as you might to make sense of how everything fits together — wanting one thing to be the piece that fills the empty space next to another piece, complementing it and maybe even lending additional meaning — you end up having to recognize, probably with a sigh, that it’s all really more of a jumble. Completed puzzle with straight edges all around, making one appealing picture? Nope. You’re better off granting each squiggly thing its own integrity, without jamming it into anything else, hoping for some kind of snap. Hey, we all need our space. May has been that kind of month for me ..read more

This past Sunday morning, after I’d heard the whirring of Rob’s hybrid car as it pulled out of the driveway for a church destination an hour away, I thought I might relish the freedom of having plenty of time to get moving. I even got to see some warblers busying themselves about a dozen feet away, twittering as they moved amidst the catkins hanging from the birch branches outside the bedroom window. Oddly, though, while I was curious about the birds — trying unsuccessfully to identify the species — I didn’t feel anything more than a passing delight in them, and this was unusual for me. The f ..read more

If it weren’t for his compassionate nature, it would be a tad intimidating to watch a series about the life of Jesus with my husband. There we sit next to one another — the two of us, and also the huge difference between his knowledge of the Bible and mine, almost a third individual. If the couch were a see-saw, I’d be way up there, dangling my legs, and he’d be solidly grounded — or wait, maybe the other way around. In any case, there’s an imbalance that wasn’t in the TV room when we watched all those suspenseful British detective series or laughed our way through Derry Girls and Never Have I ..read more

Anniversaries — of both happy and sad days — are worth pausing for, don’t you think? Sure, we need to keep putting one foot after another, moving forward and shaping the future rather than dwelling on the past, but a little reflection about our own personal histories helps us to integrate elements of our journeys. A Snowy Day Long Ago On this day, more than 80 years ago, my parents were married in Montreal. Canada, my mother’s country, had entered World War II first; two of my mother’s brothers served. My father, a young lawyer, would be off to the Pacific with the U.S. Navy within a couple of ..read more

One thing that I’ve learned through marriage (the list is long) is that doing/ creating/ practicing some kind of art in your own individual way helps each partner to flourish, alone and also together. Nothing Really, or Really Something Yesterday at school, by the downstairs water fountain, I had a brief conversation with an 11th grader whom I had just met when I came into her English class. I went partly to give them a brush-up on the “Xello” platform — a college and career exploration resource — that every student can access through their school gmail. They can start by investigating aspects ..read more

Just while I’m getting a “Snow Squall Warning” on my phone — an insistent alarm even — seems like a excellent time to appreciate the often surprising revelations that this season brings. While seeing a new truth (or an old truth, newly perceived) brings a kind of light, sometimes the nature of that truth can be painful to absorb. We want to be “enlightened” in an uplifting way, but new discoveries are not always kind. Two Calendars Let’s start in a calmer tone, with daily rhythms. Being married to an Episcopal priest means, among other things, knowing that the Sierra Club calendar on the wall ..read more