Month: April 2019

Taylor’s Assorted Specialty Teas

Leave a Comment

For Christmas, I received this fancy box of tea. Opening it and selecting a tea makes me feel special like when I’m at a nice restaurant that brings out an assortment of teas or on a cruise ship where the waiter offers teas from a wooden box.

So far I have enjoyed six of these eight teas. You won’t be surprised to know that the Decaffeinated Breakfast Tea and Green Tea with Jasmine remain to be sampled. I like my black tea with caffeine and usually leave the green tea drinking to my husband. I have previously enjoyed Taylor’s Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Organic Chamomile, and Organic Peppermint, and found them all to be delicious in this box too.

The biggest surprises to me are the Lemon and Orange Tea and Assam Tea. I’ve been enjoying the Assam Tea in the morning to wake me up. I add some honey to sweeten it a little and find that this tea kick starts my morning routine. The Lemon and Orange Tea is advertised as a “zesty and vibrant black tea”. I like the hints of fruit flavors that enhance but do not overwhelm the black tea on morning when I need a more subtle wake up.

I am thankful for these tasty teas in their fancy box which have been brightening my mornings and bringing a sense of calm to my evenings.

A Benediction for Good Friday

Leave a Comment

Today we remember the death of Jesus. Last night in worship I was almost moved to tears as I watched the stripping of the altar after a service that had included hand washing and communion. Removing all the adornments and beautiful items from an altar or communion table and pulpit and lectern always gives me pause as we mark this day as different from all others. For me, my favorite way to leave the sanctuary on Good Friday is in silence with no handshaking, no communication with others. I want time alone with my thoughts after hearing Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, is dead.

I offer this benediction today for those who may not be attending a service today or for those who prefer to end a service with a benediction.

As you go out into the world this night, don’t rush ahead to the events of the coming days. Allow yourself to mourn the death of Jesus. Contemplate the betrayal by Judas and the denial by Simon Peter. Stay by the cross like the women who loved Jesus. Reflect on how much you love Jesus and how much he has taught you. Go now, knowing God is always with you and walks this lonesome valley with you. Amen.

A Benediction for Maundy Thursday aka Holy Thursday

Leave a Comment

Today is the day we remember the Last Supper and Jesus instructing us to wash each other’s feet. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s gospels, we hear Jesus asking us to take and eat the bread and to drink from the cup. In John’s gospel, Jesus washes his disciples’ feet and encourages them to wash each other’s feet. However you are observing this holy day, my hope is that you’ll take time to pause and remember and give thanks.

Open your hearts to receive this benediction- We have gathered at Jesus’ table as welcomed guests. Always remember that there is plenty of room at this table as this holy table is as big and wide as God’s amazing love for us. There are no better words to end this benediction than the words of Jesus spoken after washing the disciples’ feet from John 13: 34-35, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Amen.

Prayers to Start the Work Day

2 Comments

I was asked for help by the staff of a local assisted living facility. They were feeling like they needed prayers or devotions to start off their morning meeting, and they didn’t know what to do. So, I wrote these prayers for them. I hope they will be helpful to you this week too.

Loving God, Be with us today. Give us patience and compassion. Help us to do our work with love as we care for those you have entrusted to us. Open our ears to hear the stories shared no matter how many times we have heard the same stories. May the work that we do be pleasing to you. Amen.

O God, It is another work day and my attitude is not what it needs to be. Help me to put aside for awhile all that needs to be done when the workday is done. Watch over my loved ones while I work so that I may focus on the work that is here and the people that need me. Guide my steps and actions. Amen.

Holy One, We know that today is going to be a good day because you woke us up and brought us to this place. So thank you for all the blessings you give us each day. Thank you for this work that you have given me to do. Help me to do it to the very best of my ability. Amen.

Gracious God, As we start this work day, we bring thoughts of things that didn’t get done yesterday and all there is to do today. It is overwhelming. How can we possibly do it all? Remind us, O God, that you are with us. Help us to prioritize and be efficient. Help us to slow down too when needed. With your help, Holy One, this day won’t be as hard as we imagine. Amen.

Thank you, God, for giving me work to do that makes me feel fulfilled. Help me to see that I am an important person at this place and the work I do matters. Inspire me to do my work well. Open my eyes to times I can help my colleagues to do their work better. And remind me to thank my coworkers for the good work they do and to graciously accept their thanks for work I do well. Thank you, God, for this team that is working together toward our goals. Amen.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi-Book Review

2 Comments

I began reading this book on an airplane traveling to a much needed and anticipated vacation in Aruba. I am not sure this is the right time for most people to read this book, and yet it had been on my to read list for too long. I had recommended it to a hospice patient who wanted to read a book about dying written by someone who was actually dying. I told her when I recommended the book that I had not yet read it. In her memory, I wanted to read this book so I knew if it was something to recommend to someone else. And so I began reading it on a cold morning after leaving the airport in Baltimore. I took a break from reading to look out the window and saw the sun shining, blue waters, and islands of the Bahamas. While I had been reading, I had been transported to another place.


This book will transport you into Paul’s life. When reading these words, I felt like I was there with him in the desert in Arizona, in medical school with a donor (the kinder term for cadavers), in the hospitals and Operating Rooms. And then you go with Paul from his work as a surgeon to his life as a patient looking for meaning in the time he has left. The books ends with an epilogue written by Paul’s wife after his death.


I read this book quickly even as I recognized that it covers the difficult topic of one’s own mortality. I cried on the beach as I read the epilogue even though it was stated from early on that Paul was going to die. And I thought about my hospice patient who I would (now) recommend she start this book from Part 2-Cease Not till Death. My patient didn’t need to hear about his life before the diagnosis. She wanted to hear from someone else who had walked the journey toward death and stopped to share his or her own story. She did not want to read about all that one was giving up with a terminal diagnosis because she was living that herself. If I had read this book before she died, I would have encouraged her to read the epilogue because it talks about Paul’s last days and how he is surrounded by those he loved.


I do recommend this book for anyone who wants to ponder what it feels like to die young and to know you are going to die sooner rather than later.
This is a book for people who love poetry and literature and autobiographies.

I am still searching for a book to recommend to my hospice patients that is written by someone who is dying and who speaks in easy to understand terms about how their diagnosis and living their last days affects them.