- By Melannie Svoboda SND
Recently I lost another friend. She was Judy Moore. Reverend Judy Moore, an Episcopal priest whose final years were spent ministering in Albuquerque, NM. My friendship with Judy goes way way back to 1951 when we first met in second grade at James A. Garfield School in Willoughby Hills, Ohio.
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
We hear enough these days about people doing mean or bad things: bullying a classmate, stealing from the elderly, driving recklessly, cheating the government, throwing garbage in a river, vandalizing a historic building. People doing bad things often makes the news. So today, let’s focus on true stories about ordinary
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others is another inspiring book by Barbara Brown Taylor. You may recall, she is an Episcopal priest who, after years as a pastor, moved into the world of Academia beginning with Piedmont University in Demorest, Georgia. There for years she taught a
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
Consider the lowly dandelion. Is there any other plant more detested by gardeners, lawn-lovers, and golf-course keepers? Just search “how to get rid of dandelions” online and dozens of products come up from highly toxic weed killers (one warns that their product, if not used correctly, can kill bushes or
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
A few weeks ago, I mentioned a book I was reading, Jennifer Ackerman’s Notes from the Shore. For my June 5th post, I wrote about the “homing instinct,” an instinct so beautifully exemplified in ospreys. Ackerman shares many other facts in her book that amazed me. Here’s another one. Astronomer
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
As we celebrate the Fourth of July in the USA, let us reflect on the gift of freedom. What is freedom? I like this definition: “Freedom is nothing else than the chance to be better.” Why have we been gifted with freedom? Only this: to love. We might think, “I
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
Recently, Krista Tippett, on her podcast On Being, interviewed Tracy K. Smith, U.S. Poet Laureate from 2017-2019. They both agreed that poetry is more important than ever today when our public conversations are often so “fractious and strident.” Why is poetry so vital? Because poetry gets at “undergirding truth,” not
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
I was thinking about my cousins lately. Maybe that’s because I recently had lunch with one of my cousins, Peggy. We hadn’t seen each other since her Dad’s funeral not too long ago. It was so enjoyable being with her. She is someone who shares much of my early history
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
Is sensitivity a cross or a gift? Sometimes we think of sensitivity as a cross we bear. We reason, “If I weren’t so sensitive, I wouldn’t feel all this pain—not only my own pain, but the pain of others.” Yet, we also know that sensitivity can be a great gift.
- By Melannie Svoboda SND
Years ago, when I was a young nun, I came into the side entrance of our provincial house one day and saw an elderly Sister sitting on the bench by the door. Sister Ferdinand (not her real name) had dementia at a time when we knew very little about the
