Thursday, February 15, 2018

February Ground

February Ground

As the snow melts into the cold February ground, water flows down the drain pipes outside.

It sounds as if the house is crying.

A preacher without a pulpit preaches sermons in her head. She studies scripture and looks at the world and then tells herself all about it.

Today she is preaching to herself about a man named Judas. A man who said he loved what was right and good, he followed a Savior. Judas was going to help make the world great again.
But the murderers got a hold of Judas and said, “We need to know who he is, the Savior. He must die. They made a plan.

Judas had thirty pieces of silver jangling in his pocket when he kissed the Savior right in front of everyone. The murderers watched. They took the kissed man and killed the Savior dead.

And the world shuddered and sobbed oceans of grief.

A sister without a brother thinks about what a world without guns would be like. God’s Holy Mountain? Swords beaten into plowshares? Someplace nice?

But when things weren’t going right in her brother’s head, when pain and confusion reigned, he took a gun, a gun no one should have sold him, and shot himself dead.

And tears came down. Like snow sliding off a roof onto the cold February ground.

A writer without words, writes anyway. She creates a world where life is redeemed. Where a brother lives and breathes, and just maybe she can soothe her mother’s half-empty heart a bit. She writes about a Savior who didn’t stay dead.

The preacher/sister/writer watches the world. She watches the people who have power to change things for the better.

Then she watches breathlessly when mothers and fathers lose their hearts because their children have been shot dead.

When the people with power put on their oh, so, so sad faces for television and say they are praying for the families. Empty prayers from vacant souls. 

The preacher/sister/writer can hear the silver jangling in their pockets. NRA silver jangles and jangles and jangles until she thinks she’s going deaf.

And she screams, “Just do one damn thing to keep our children from being shot dead.”

Because she sees you, all the ones with the power to change things. You held that rifle yesterday. Your finger pulled the trigger. Yes. You.

And waterfalls rush down, because the world is crying.

So, to all the powerful ones who will go home to their families this weekend with silver in their pockets, make sure to hug your children. Enjoy their company. Count your silver – your blood money. Continue to do nothing to make this nightmare go away. Just go around and around and around.


While other parents, the ones with shredded hearts, lay their children in the cold February ground.

Sunday, February 11, 2018

Flashlight Friends



Two years ago we were blessed to meet a whole church of new friends.|
 Dr. William and Mitsuko Marx were two of them. They were members of the church Doug and I were visiting (and falling in love with). 

I shared the first version of, To Love and To Cherish (2015), with the book group at First Presbyterian Church of Lansing, Michigan. They took on the task of reading it! In the midst of all this, we in mid-Michigan endured a significant ice storm. Power was out for days for some folks. 

Not long after power restoration, I received the photo above from William (Bill). During the first night of the storm, Bill and Mitsuko decided to make use of the time. They set up several flashlights and Bill read Mitsuko, To Love and To Cherish, in a cold and romantic setting! The picture and the story warmed my heart :) 

I am not wishing another ice storm on anyone, but I'm hoping that for all of you who read the first version of this book, you will consider giving the new version a once-over too! Pen-L Publishing has given me the gift of fixing mistakes and creating more fun in Cherish. (Wouldn't it be fun to do that in real life? Fix our mistakes and make more fun?)

Bill and Mitsuko have remained faithful friends and are now reading, For Richer, For Poorer. Bill still reads it out loud to his beautiful wife.

It's quite a thrill to see the three covers of these books! I never would have thought of writing so many words in my life. It's fun to be a writer.

Three more covers are coming to complete this series. Watch for, For Better, For Worse, later this year!

Until then, I hope you enjoy these first three. If you haven't read any of them, look for the beautiful covers on Amazon.com or at Pen-l.com (don't order the old version of To Love and To Cherish-you'll want the 2018 version-cover above).

And maybe cuddle up with someone you love, like your cat, and read by flashlight or candlelight or twinkle lights. Just for the fun of it!