Author: SusannahDB

What a Difference a Year Makes

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Last year I was at my parents’ home with the family celebrating Mom’s birthday. Here are a few pictures from that day.

We celebrated Mom well with her favorite people surrounding her with laughter and fun and quality time. At her request, her birthday cake was ice cream cake. It was a great day.

Fast forward one year to today. Mom isn’t here to celebrate with us. I feel less like celebrating today and instead decided to remember her by doing some of her favorite things. I began by reading in bed and didn’t change out of my pajamas (including the shirt Mom was wearing in these pictures) until after noon. I enjoyed a delicious bacon cheeseburger with lettuce and tomato. I spent a long time browsing through the bookstore and then bought books even though my bookshelves are full of good books to read. I took a walk at the park to get some fresh air (that one was for me more so then something I did with Mom). And we ended the night the same way we ended last year with ice cream cake.

I am back home in comfy pants wearing my “Just One More Chapter” shirt topped by my breast cancer sweatshirt. I am planning to read past my bedtime tonight to continue to honor my Mom. She is missed so much by her immediate family, her extended family, and her many friends.

I share my story as a reminder that many people are grieving this holiday season. So many are observing their first holiday (or 2nd or 10th) without a loved one. The holidays are a time of traditions. What happens when someone is no longer there to help with a tradition? How do we reimagine traditions? How do we give ourselves time and space to grieve the changes necessitated by the death of someone we love? I offer my story of today as one way to honor and remember a loved one who has died. It is one example of how to make a hard day a little easier. As you are navigating your own grief or helping someone who is grieving, be kind to yourself and each other.

Holiday Greetings

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Finding the right words to say is important to me. I spend much energy considering how you will receive the words I offer and how they will impact you. Our words matter. This is true is everyday. This is true at the holidays.

I don’t know everything you are going through. I can’t. Just like you can’t know everything that is running though my head and heart. So how do we share holiday greetings when we don’t know how our greetings will be received? We do the best we can with what we know.

I can’t give you all the answers on how to share greetings with others in the holiday season, and I don’t know how you will be feeling when you read these words. I leave you with this blessing that I hope will be meaningful to you today.

Christmas is here with the mix of emotions it brings. God is with us today whether we are sad, mad, glad, lonely, thankful, or whatever emotion we name to describe us today. And because God is with us your feelings are valid and valued. You can laugh and cry today. You can sing the songs of Christmas off key or turn off the music. You can observe this day in whatever way works for you this year. God is with us. God loves us. Amen.

An Advent Prayer

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I love the season of Advent. I love the preparations and anticipation. I love the slow walk toward what we know is coming. My hope for you this Advent season is that you may take opportunities to pause from the busyness of life to explore Advent.

Patient God, Advent is here. This season of waiting and preparing and expectation. Too often, we zoom ahead to what is next. Stop us right here, Loving God. Give us time to pause and be present. Remind us that this season is time for hope, peace, joy, and love. This world, your world O God, needs all of this today. So help us to look for hope, peace, joy, and love, and share what we see with others. When able, help us to be the hope others need. Send us your peaceful presence that we may be peacemakers. Light us up with joy, so we may spread joy in our communities. And fill us with your unconditional love, so we may let everyone know they are loved as well. Fill us up this Advent, so we may share the goodness of God with everyone this season. In the name of the one whose arrival we await, we pray. Amen.

Psalm 19 Responsive Reading

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This is a responsive reading with parts 1 and 2 that could be read with two people or a congregation and leader. The words of the Psalm are in quotation marks. Psalm 19:1-2,7-10, 14 is used.

1-“The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.”

2-Listen! Do you hear? Listen to nature informing us about the God of all creation. Listen!

1-When should we listen? When should we expect to hear good news?

2-“Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.”

1-“The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple;”

2-Revive us, God. Breathe new life into our weary bodies.

1-Explain to us again your way. We want to follow you, and we need your help.

2-“the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes;”

1-“the fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever, the ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.”

2-We delight in you, Gracious God, and know you instruct us in the way to life.

1-“More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold, sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb.”

2-You paint a beautiful picture of how much we should want to follow you. 

1- “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Amen.

2-“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Amen.

Laugh with me.

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Recently I was visiting a hospice patient who loves to laugh as much as I do. She had me laughing so hard that my face turned red and my eyes started watering. She looked at me and said your face is so red and started laughing all over again. We laughed and laughed. She said I could visit again if we could laugh more.

I find hope and joy in laughter. While laughing, we realize we all want to find the joy in our lives-big joys and small joys. Laughter kindles a flame of hope in us and reminds us of the goodness we can find in each other. Laughing together reminds us that we are not alone on this journey.

Today, look for opportunities to laugh. Have a giggle. Try a belly laugh. Snort if you want. However, you like to laugh, I hope you laugh today.

Creator of Laughter and All Goodness, we thank you for the joy in our lives. We thank you for the times our joy bubbles up into laughter. What a treat to laugh. For moments of laughter on hard days, we give thanks. For days filled with laughter, we give thanks. For the gift of laughter, we give you thanks and praise. Amen.

All Saints’ Sunday-Special Edition for when you are remembering a loved one who has died this year.

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I have long loved the celebration of the saints in our churches. It is a Sunday when we remember that we are not the first and we will not be the last in this lineage of believers. This year I am wondering how to celebrate and honor this day when one of the saints who joined the church triumphant this year was my mother. All of the rituals I have done in the past years do not feel like enough to remember the one who carried me inside her for nine months and then carried me in her arms and held me in her heart from before my first breath until her last breath. How do I honor her memory on this day? As I reflected on this question, I was reminded that each of the saints I have honored over the years was someone’s beloved family member or friend or neighbor or parent or grandparent or sibling. The beauty of this day is we take time to remember and give thanks for lives lived as God’s beloved children. My mother would not want a big fanfare today (nor any day as fanfares were not her thing). So today, I will do as I do each time this holy day comes, I will light candles and remember those I love who are no longer here on earth. I will remember and give thanks.

Here is the prayer I will use as I name them today. Holy One, you know us by name and you call us your children. Today on this All Saints’ Day we remember and give thanks for __________ (name them by name and light a candle for your loved ones). We miss them. And they live on in us. We remember the lessons they taught us. We give thanks for hugs and meals shared. We know their love for you which we heard in their words and saw in their actions. We can see them cheering us on when we succeed and crying with us when the way is hard. We know they are with you. We know that for each of them pain and sorrow have ceased and they are at peace. Gracious God, be with us in whatever emotions this day brings. Today, we give thanks and we remember all of the saints who from their labors rest. As the saints lived in faith, we too will continue to follow you, Good Shepherd. Lead on. Amen.

My sister, my mother, and I on January 31, 2021.

A Prayer for Fall

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As we are midway through the month of October, it is the season of Fall in the Northern Hemisphere. Some days here it feels more like summer and other days those fall temperatures make me realize the cooler months are here. However you enjoy celebrating or observing this time of year, I hope you find meaning in this prayer for fall.

God of All Seasons, It is Fall. We see more pumpkins on porches and pumpkin flavored items are available everywhere. The temperatures may be changing as may our clothing choices. We may be gathering around fire pits with friends. Or, we may not have even had time to notice the change in season.

God of All Creation, help us to gain inspiration from nature this fall. Like the trees, help us to let go of that which is no longer life giving or helping us to grow. Like the grass, remind us it is okay to rest and renew for a season before coming back alive and well next year. Like the migrating birds, send us on journeys to familiar places where we can be safe until it is time to return home. Like the animals preparing for hibernation, give us good food to nourish us and some extra rest in the coming days. Like the squirrels scurrying around to collect nuts, may we gather only what we need so our needs are met and there is enough for others.

As we watch the leaves fall and feel the temperatures cool, let this be a time of possibility for what this season can be if we trust in you, Holy One. Amen.

A Prayer for Times of Frustration!

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I have been working on a responsive reading based on a psalm to share in this space. Numerous times technology has failed me or I have failed. I wanted to share that today and lost all my formatting again, so instead I share this prayer for times of frustration.

God, all I can do in this moment is take a big, deep breath and step away. Continuing to work on what is before me will only lead to more frustration. So, I breath and step and breath and step, until I am far away enough to gain some room to move and some perspective. I am passing my frustration on to you, Compassionate One, knowing you can handle what I cannot. Hold this in your loving hands until I am ready to take it back to continue this task-big or small. Thank you for being my teammate and support through all the frustrations in life. Having handed it off to you, I can feel my shoulders lowering and the tension easing and my breath returning to a normal rhythm. Thank you, Holy One, for reminding us to care for ourselves in the midst of all that must be done. Walk with us today and everyday. Amen.

How are you, my friends?

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Honestly, life hasn’t been a piece of cake lately. After some time away, my work load was extra challenging and busy this week. My time away included laughter and tears as we remembered my Mom and celebrated life together as a family. My regular to do list grows instead of shrinks. The news is filled with sadness. People seems angry all the time.

And then I found myself with time alone at the beach. I had a few hours with nothing to do except what I wanted. I walked the boardwalk. I window shopped. I bought myself a delicious tea beverage. And I felt myself relax. As I write this, there is a breeze blowing off the ocean, birds are chirping, and all seems a bit more right in the world.

I hope that if you are feeling worried or stressed or overwhelmed you might find your free morning at the beach (whatever that looks like for you). As a closing prayer, I leave you with these words from the coffee shop I visited today.

Take a deep breath and inhale positivity and exhale gratitude.
What little things can you do for yourself or someone else? These things do mean a lot!
Peace to you!

Resetting Your Routine

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I am writing this while in vacation mode. This is what I call it when I am off my normal work/life routine. My alarm clock doesn’t force me to get up and go to the shower before I want to be awake. I let my amazing colleagues take care of my work while I do the same for them while they are off. The have to’s change to want to’s. Vacation mode is a good way to be.

In the challenging times in which we live, it is essential that we reset our routines when possible by spending time in vacation mode. You can staycation. You can get away. There are no rules about how you move into vacation mode. The most important thing is doing what you need to do to allow yourself a break.

Here is a prayer for when you are in vacation mode.

Loving God, you took time to rest and we need to do the same. Bless this time when we reset our routine by spending time in vacation mode. Slow our breathing. Ease our worries. Clear our minds. Open us to the joy in this day. Amen.

May you find peace like my niece.