When I posted this message about praying and action, it made me reflect on what that means. Over the years, I have told people that they are in my “thoughts and prayers” and people have told me that when I am going through something hard. And it certainly feels good to say and to hear. …
05/25/2022 Lynn Murphy Mark Beyond tragedy I know that a lot of words will be spoken to address the horror that happened in Uvalde, Texas, yesterday. “Thoughts and prayers” are among the most common of these words. Anymore, they feel empty and meaningless. I saw a drawing of St. Peter at the gate of heaven …
05/24/2022 Lynn Murphy Mark “The Wheels of Justice turn slowly…” This bit of wisdom is attributed to a 3d century Greek smart guy. As far as I can tell, nothing has changed since the 3d century where immigration practices are concerned. Some of our current laws are probably that old and outdated. But I digress. …
05/22/2022 Lynn Murphy Mark Luck of the Irish In 2009, I finally made it to Ireland. I took my kids and we spent 8 awesome days on that gorgeous green island. We started in Dublin, doing some touristy stuff like taking the Guiness brewery tour and visiting Newgrange, Ireland’s most famous passage tomb. The Guiness …
05/21/2022 Lynn Murphy Mark A toddler’s dinner For the last two weeks I have been fixing three meals a day for Jan and me. Needless to say, this is a huge departure from our usual habit of fixing stuff for ourselves and eating at different times during the day. Sometimes it’s only two meals a …
05/19/2022 Lynn Murphy Mark The invader Two pink lines on a test strip and my carefully guarded freedom from COVID is over. I remember saying to someone that getting COVID seems inevitable, but I didn’t mean for me. What arrogance. Yesterday I unwittingly exposed four people when I had a job interview for a part …
05/18/2022 Lynn Murphy Mark The Behemoth It’s a quiet morning here at Casa McAllister/Mark. I’ve been slowly drifting through FaceBook, where I get a lot of my news, and paying a few bills online. It’s almost time to pay off the one credit card that I use for everything. It’s a Southwest Visa card and …
05/16/2022 Lynn Murphy Mark Home bound Today is the 10th day since Jan has been home from the hospital. Every day she gets a little stronger and her stay in the hospital loses its hold on her. She is what Home Health people call “homebound”, which qualifies her for in home services. Because she came home …
05/12/2022 Lynn Murphy Mark Take me out to the ballgame…or just, take me out Last night I was at a Cardinals baseball game. It was baseball heaven – great company with my friend Riff, wonderful seats, a hot dog, and a winning game. Busch Stadium is my second church. Riff and I were watching the …
05/102022 Lynn Murphy Mark A soul event It’s time for some Spring cleaning of my soul. Wrapped in Winter’s darkness for several months, she has begun to open her eyes to the neon green of Spring. There’s energy in nature’s colors and they call out vigorously to all of my senses. The trees behind our …
05/09/2022 Lynn Murphy Mark Health Care week For some reason this week is designated as one to honor people who are working in the huge health care system in this country. One piece of the pie is paid for by the federal government. It shelled out 1.2 Trillion dollars in 2019: 644 Billion dollars on …
05/08/2022 Lynn Murphy Mark Mother’s Day Yesterday I read Anne Lamotte’s piece on Mother’s Day. It’s not her favorite holiday for a variety of reasons. She wrote about the sorrow of the day for so many women: the ones whose mother is gone from this earth, the ones who by choice or by circumstance did …
05/06/2022 Lynn Murphy Mark A dream realized Earlier this morning I finished reading a novel written by a friend of mine, who is a fellow Deaconess School of Nursing colleague. That means we have known each other for 52 years. She asked me to be an “early reader” for her book. I consider her willingness …
05/05/2022 Lynn Murphy Mark Back to work When I googled the question asking how many people in their 70’s are still in the workforce, this answer came up: “meet the hottest demographic in the labor market: men and women working not only past traditional retirement age but into their 70’s and 80’s and sometimes beyond. …
05/04/2022 Lynn Murphy Mark Out of joint One of the elderly ladies in my congregation is having knee replacement surgery in about half an hour. She is a very determined woman and I won’t be surprised to see her in church on Sunday. Another friend recently had the procedure done and she is walking without …
05/01/2022 Lynn Murphy Mark Paradise on fire If you have ever been to Northern New Mexico you know how beautiful the landscape is. Filled with sunlight and very clean air, there is something spiritual about the atmosphere there. There are mountains, forests, vibrantly hued rock formations, the Rio Grande, and other high desert beauties. I …
04/30/2022 Lynn Murphy Mark Bits of colored glass In 1995 I made a big change in the trajectory of my nursing career. I left my management role in psychiatry for a new endeavor in hospice. I never dreamed that the next 16 years would be devoted to palliative care and the ending of precious lives. …
04/29/2022 Lynn Murphy Mark Communion of the common ones For much of my church life, taking Communion has been an important element. I love to join the line of congregants approaching our spiritiual leaders for a chance to physically remember Jesus’s call. The elements are symbolic of Jesus himself, of the night that he broke …
04/28/2022 Lynn Murphy Mark The power of prayer The day before yesterday I wrote about Jan’s health scare, her lengthy hospital stay, and an unanticipated brief stint on a ventilator with transfer to ICU. Since I posted that blog, messages and calls have poured in. There are over 60 comments on the post, most of …
04/26/2022 Lynn Murphy Mark Visiting hours My Jan is in the hospital down the street. She has been there since April 15, trying to recover from pneumonia and some other systems’ malfunctions. The fact that she’s been in this long is absolute proof that she is a sick cookie. I went to Puerto Rico while …
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