July 2005 - Posts
When my mother moved into a retirement residency, she stored several large boxes of family heirlooms in my sister's garage. My sister and I knew what was in them -- dishes, curios, a variety of silver spoons -- but we didn't know where these things came from. So one weekend, we went through the boxes with Mom, asking for the story behind each piece.
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In today's program on "Renewed Hope," Timberly held up a piece of rope and explained that in Hebrew the word hope is related to rope. In times of trouble we hold on to both of them. I thought of a line in Anne Lamott's spiritual memoir Traveling Mercies. She's talking about what her church community means to her: "When I was at the end of my rope, the people at St. Andrew's tied a knot in it for me and helped me hold on."
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You'd think after a long holiday weekend, we wouldn't need to be reminded of the importance of "Breathing Space." Wasn't that what the holiday was for? Maybe. Maybe not. It's so easy to fill every moment of a weekend with errands and activities that it mimics the hecticness of our weekdays. And holidays have their own "to do" lists based on cultural and family traditions. What American doesn't feel like she is supposed to go see the fireworks on the Fourth of July?
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