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Thin Places

Peter’s Mom always told him that she started going to AA because she was worried about where her drinking habit would lead her. She wasn’t drinking a lot, but she was drinking every day. And, she said, she needed that drink (vodka on the rocks) at the end of the day, “to take the edge…

“Cheap Blood Test Could Detect Disorders in Fetus” reports on an attempt to create a blood test (rather than CVS or amniocentesis) that could detect Down syndrome, among other genetic abnormalities, very early on in pregnancies.  As readers of this blog know, I’ve been thinking recently about keeping the Sabbath and creating spaces of rest…

When I was pregnant with William, people often remarked, “It will be so good for Penny to have a sibling.” Even though they meant well, I always felt indignant and replied, “It will be so good for this baby to have Penny.” And as Penny and William grow up together, again and again I find…

Matt Rhodes is a student at Princeton Theological Seminary. He lived in a L’Arche Community for one year before beginning his studies. Last spring, the Sunday following Easter Sunday, my beloved mother died. The church was celebrating victory; I was living in defeat, in despair, in death. The minister who had come to the hospital…

William, as usual, stood on his tiptoes to turn the light on at the bottom of the stairs. He then reached up again to turn it off. “William,” I said, in my warning voice. “You can turn it off one time but then it needs to stay off.” He nodded. “Waste energy.” It’s an incessant…

As I mentioned last week, with some degree of fear and trepidation, we signed Penny up for her first week of tennis lessons (see “The Perils of 4-Year Old Tennis“). She donned her white shorts and t-shirt and showed up. The other kids out there were taller (by about six to eight inches). They were…

This is a rather unconventional post for me, and it’s intended for people who have read this blog before. Now that the blog has been live at beliefnet for over a month, I wanted to get your feedback on a few things. I’d also like to invite you to suggest topics or questions you’d like…

Two unexpected sources offer fodder for discussion about the merits of approaching sex differently. First, journalist Hephzibah Anderson writes in the Atlantic about her Year Without Sex. Then, Camille Paglia writes for the New York Times, “No Sex Please, We’re Middle Class,” in which she argues that a return to differentiation between the sexes and…

A few weeks ago, as we prepared to move, we were bemoaning our accumulation of stuff (see “Too Much Stuff“). I’m repeating one of the photos of our pile of giveaway stuff here, because Peter remarked, “This is a spiritual statement.” He didn’t mean it in a positive sense, as if to say we were…

Yesterday afternoon, Penny couldn’t have been more excited when I said, “Pen, would you like to do a worksheet that your teacher sent home for you?” “Homework? Yes!” We sat at the kitchen table. She circled the “tall” person, the person “in front,” the item “behind.” She named three things you can find on a playground.…
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