We are all COVID-fatigued after these 7+ months but COVID-19 is not fatigued of us! It continues to rage in our communities. As you know, the Illinois Department of Health and the Governor have placed more restrictions on four counties starting this Friday, October 23 for at least the next 14 days.
Read MoreI voted! Have you? Will you? I want to encourage you now to make sure that you participate in the upcoming election. It is yet another way to make your voice count, just as taking the census was.
Read MoreFor most people, the “new year” begins in January. But for anyone who works with children and youth, we often think of our “new year” beginning in the fall, when the school year starts up and we begin our student ministry programs anew.
Read MoreSome people make fun of us for this, but Ken and I pick up coins on the street, coins that people have dropped, tossed or lost in some way. It began because shortly after I came to Chicago, I had a few nasty falls while running (on not-so-good sidewalks). Of course, I’m of the age that your doctor asks you at your annual checkup, “have you fallen lately?” I just laughed and said, “I’m a runner. Of course, I’ve fallen!” And she responded by saying, “Watch your feet when you run!”
Read More“When did I first start zooming?” I wondered one day. I went back in my virtual calendar and to the best of my knowledge, it was September 10, 2019. Almost to the day of writing this, it’s been a year of Zoom video conferencing. But not all days and weeks and months of zooming are equal. Since mid-March, I have been zooming every day, sometimes for hours. My guess is that many of you have been zooming these last months (or using another platform like Zoom). Even my 88-year-old mother zooms (when her computer works), and she’s very proud to be the only person in her senior facility to do so.
Read MoreHave become more I than We? Have we become more individualistic and less community-minded? We see this in the church and have for years as we talked about how people were more spiritual than religious. Being spiritual without being religious came to mean that people claimed to be able to connect with God through nature, an inspiring book or some music, and prayer (often an impassioned “help” in times of trouble), but didn’t feel that they needed all that other stuff—you know, stuff like the organized church! More I and less We.
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