Freeing Mary from Martha’s Overcare

“Let’s shut down the blog,” Martha demanded. “We’re hardly using it anymore and it’s not worth the cost.”  “No, no!” cried Mary. “This is life-giving! It’s worth it! We’ll add it to the repertoire of rest activities we do when Daddy takes the toddler out once a week!”  So here we are on Saturday afternoon. …

What my dying neighbor is teaching me about lizard brains

I’ve been thinking about lizard brains a lot lately because I see this concept in action every time I hang out with my neighbor, who is slowly dying. That’s a crude way to phrase it, but if you saw her, you’d agree. She weighs less than 85 pounds- just a shadow of the round woman she once was. Hospice…

Why Skype Can’t Fix Our Loneliness

In theory, social distancing or sheltering in place shouldn’t be too isolating for anyone with decent wifi because we can all connect to each other online. On my calendar this week I’ve got a coffee date with a friend on Skype, church via Facebook live streaming, English coaching for a non-native speaker on Hangouts, and …