Segullah's Blog, page 33

Practicing Kindness

I make my daughter’s lunch every day, even though she is a junior in high school. One of my goals in parenting has been to encourage autonomy in my kids, and yet nearly every morning I’m standing at the counter in my pajamas, chopping red peppers. Sometimes I wonder if I should keep doing this,...

The post Practicing Kindness appeared first on Segullah.

Announcing the 2020 Contest: “Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.”

For 2020, in honor of the anniversary of The Women’s Suffrage Movement, we partner with Mormon Women for Ethical Government and extend an invitation to all interested Latter-day Saint women and/or members of Mormon Women for Ethical Government prose writers, poets, and visual artists to create entries on this year’s theme based on a prayer...

The post Announcing the 2020 Contest: “Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.” appeared first on Segullah.

ODAAT Saint: Finding the Eternal in the Now

I tend to live in my head, to overanalyze. This often prevents me from engaging fully in the present moment. Fortunately, I go to the gym daily, which offers me respite from living in my head. Whether I’m doing a cardio, strength training, or yoga, my mind can only think about breathing and moving in...

The post ODAAT Saint: Finding the Eternal in the Now appeared first on Segullah.

Keeping the Stars Apart

here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows higher than soul can hope or mind can hide) and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart i carry your heart(i...

The post Keeping the Stars Apart appeared first on Segullah.

Blooming out of Bitterness: Julia Mavimbela

“Let us dig the soil of bitterness, throw in a seed, show love, and see what fruits will grow. Love will not come without forgiving others. Where there was a bloodstain, a beautiful flower must grow.” Before you start imagining this quote as a frilly, floral meme, you should know something about the woman who...

The post Blooming out of Bitterness: Julia Mavimbela appeared first on Segullah.

Skipping

“If I dismiss the ordinary– waiting for the special, the extreme, the extraordinary to happen — I may just miss my life.” Dani Shapiro The day was lost, or so I thought,  but I convinced myself to go to the park and wogun (pronounced whoagun)– what a friend affectionately calls a walk-jog-run– some walking, a...

The post Skipping appeared first on Segullah.

God’s Light in an Atheist Country

“Are you going to go to church in China?” A friend asked. I was flabbergasted by the question. I had presumed (based mostly on television) that churches were an underground thing that only the stealth could clandestinely attend by cover of darkness in a country where the government is officially atheist. “I don’t think there’s...

The post God’s Light in an Atheist Country appeared first on Segullah.

Newborn Missionary

We took my oldest son to the MTC this week, to learn Cebuano in preparation for his mission to the Philippines. The night before, the stake president and his counselor came to our home and set him apart, and then we had some family blessings. The next day we drove in the underground MTC parking...

The post Newborn Missionary appeared first on Segullah.

Scary Edgar Allan Poe and Me: Super-Weird or Super-Power?

After a recent rereading of spooky old classics, I reached a disturbing realization: Maybe Edgar Allan Poe’s scary, creepy characters aren’t as odd as he meant them to be. In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” Poe’s narrator describes Roderick as tortured by sounds — except for certain stringed instruments. If Mr. Usher suffered...

The post Scary Edgar Allan Poe and Me: Super-Weird or Super-Power? appeared first on Segullah.

Words Fall In: A Segullah Podcast featuring Lisa Bickmore

Lisa Bickmore wields words like a master craftsman. In this interview, she describes her writing life, her connection to nature, her advocacy and the responsibility of an artist, and how her faith tradition seeps into her work. I edited the interview into two parts, so take the time to relish Lisa’s wisdom. I so enjoyed...

The post Words Fall In: A Segullah Podcast featuring Lisa Bickmore appeared first on Segullah.