Minding the Light

Editor’s note:  This story was submitted in response to the Chapter 5 query, “When has God made you laugh?”  We received the story too late to publish with Chapter 5, so it is posted here as a Reflection on Chapter 5.    Wider Quaker Fellowship was going to be laid down, unless, the clerk of the nominating committee told me, I was willing to take on its clerkship.  I had never been on that committee and... [more]

Editor’s note:  This story was submitted in response to the Chapter 17 query, “When have you encountered the Light through music?”  We received the story too late to publish in Chapter 17, so it is posted here as a Reflection on Chapter 17.    The Rose In one of the darkest times of my life, I found myself in the middle of a painful separation after a long term marriage. I took my marriage vows... [more]

Dear Reader,   I wrote a story for chapter 15 of Minding the Light entitled “One Shining Light.”  It is a deeply personal story about my own experience with abuse. I wrote it at the time to recognize and honor my brother who played a significant role in keeping me safe throughout childhood.   After submitting the story committee, I edited it again, toning down some parts so that the simple facts remained. After all, the... [more]

[This is part of a larger story summarized in Minding the Light, Chapter 10 (“Waiting for Justice”]    I was waiting anxiously in the hallway outside an OHSU hospital room while doctors met with my son Jesse to see if he was well enough to be released.  I didn’t think he was ready and was praying they would keep him a few more days.   There was another worry, too. The general counsel of the... [more]