Visually Paired
Ellie, my friend of thirty years, once pointed out to me, “You are just such a good liar . . .”
Primary topic: Spiritual Growth
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Browse published articles attributed to Cory Kemp, with full-archive search.
Ellie, my friend of thirty years, once pointed out to me, “You are just such a good liar . . .”
Anne Shirley, heroine of the book Anne of Green Gables, taught me a thing or two about love. Having grown to the age of twelve in an orphanage, she finds herself relocated to Prince Edward Island, to the home of an aging brother and sister hoping to keep their small farm running with the help of a strong, young lad. Instead they discover Anne eagerly waiting for them at the train station. What appeared to be a huge mistake became the blessing of three lifetimes.
Before the holidays people love to share stories about gifts they are giving. After Christmas, it’s all about what we have received. Giving and receiving is an old cadence, worthy of repeating. Two colleagues confirmed that belief for me in seeing their delight over a new tablet one received as a gift. The other has a 16-month-old son who gave his dad a Christmas morning described to me as, “A blast!” Magical times, these holiday seasons through which we pass each year. Between Christmas and New Year’s Day come special surprises, unexpected delights. Pay attention.
Lent has begun. When last we saw Jesus he was in the wilde ess fending off temptation. So, what are the disciples doing? What are they up to? For that matter, what are we up to? The Bible doesn’t really go into the personal lives of the twelve we’ve come to know as Jesus’ disciples. We do know that they were Jewish, members of their community, family men with wives and children at home depending on them. Some made their living as fishermen; Matthew collected taxes, which made him about as popular as an Internal Revenue Service agent is today.
Spring fashions rolled out over the last month or so. Being aware of such matters never occurred to me until I started shopping in front of the television. What can I say? It’s fun, convenient, and the home shopping networks have chatty gals willing to spend their time telling me what great stuff is perfect for me. I love how they work their schedule around mine and encourage me to have a cup of coffee and a snack while we get down to the business of updating my wardrobe.
As is our custom here in the United States, more of us travel to be with family and friends than at any other time of the year. Fascinating, isn’t it, that this civil holiday, established during our not- so- Civil War, should draw so much of our time and energy. One would think Christmas would pull rank. But despite all the reasons it should, especially that consumer-based trade off under the tree, Thanksgiving seems to be the moment in time when we want to be together. Gratitude is the holiday, rather than taking a holiday. I like that.
In opening to my devotions today, I rediscovered a familiar hymn verse, as well as its rich meaning in my memory. The following is that hymn verse from What a Friend We Have in Jesus. Are you weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior still our refuge, take it to the ...
Welcome to the Year of Our Lord 2008. If you are following tradition and doing your homework, you have sent last year out with all its triumphs, celebrations, regrets and mistakes. You are ready to move smoothly into this bright, shiny new year with a clean slate, a light heart and a positive ...
I witnessed a miracle today. My dear cats, Frannie and Sienna, curled up on my bed and took a nap together. This may not seem like much to you, but some miracles have to be explained to appreciate in value.
My great good fortune has been to know Allison since just before she was born. I was returning home to Connecticut from performing another wedding. Allison's parents, Tracy and Brian, were in charge of transporting me from Milwaukee to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. But it wasn't to ...
Reading Dr. Wayne Dyer's book, Inspiration: Your Ultimate Calling, has been a joyfully challenging experience for me. Joyful in that it opens new doors and encourages me to hope and grow. Challenging for the very same reasons. Personal growth and development is exhilarating, but also ...
Have you found what you want? I ask clients this question at the end of each coaching session, making sure that loose ends are addressed before we part. The client’s job is to show up, be ready to work and ask for what they need. Many clients get edgy around that asking part, preferring to focus on what they can give. Asking implies neediness, an inability to function on our own in a culture that celebrates independence and self-made lives. But coaching, at its core, is about knowing and receiving what we most want, in order to pass that on to others in our own practices.
Purpose is a pretty big deal. In the context of life, purpose matters. Our purpose is the answer to the age-old question, "Why are we here?" When we find ourselves wondering what difference our lives make or even why we were born, our purpose is the reason. We each were created and came to ...
Monday dawned on a new week, seven days from Christmas Eve, three days after the tragic events at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Connecticut.
Joy. It's a simple word that somehow defies description on a broad scale because it is so specific to each person's life and spirit. Happiness is a little easier to grasp, at least as a concept. Happiness lights up a room, has long term effects and many sources over the course of time. ...
February 2011 brought good times to the land: George Clooney came to Cincinnati to film his latest movie. I indulged in what became the local hobby of visiting a set location, just to see what it was like, and, of course, to see George in action.
Presidential election results still being counted November 6 didn’t deter the media from speculating about the “great divide” in our country. In retrospect, I wish Hostess had announced its decision to close down the Twinkie production line sooner. But my diehard faith in the process that brings us together every four years to choose national leadership kept me centered on the truth: what appears as division is masquerading as wholeness.
God with Us comes in suspicious surprises. Today it is nineteen degrees before the wind chill in Cincinnati, Ohio. That, my friends, is the high temperature. The natives are more comfortable with a high around forty degrees and rightly so as that is the norm here in what I have fondly come to call the Virtual South. Although I remember many Wisconsin winters being much colder, I feel a generosity of spirit toward my neighbors. I cannot chide people who seem to have ceased complaining about arctic air to huddle in their misery in silence.
Four Amish girls were buried on a hill in Nickel Mine, Pennsylvania, this morning. Charles Carl Roberts IV, the shooter who invaded their schoolhouse, took their lives and shattered their community's private world, took his own life as well. Roberts' wife and three children live nearby. Two ...
Apollo 13 caught my attention last night as it was broadcast on a local station. The movie is harrowing in its telling details of the ill-fated mission to the moon and equally triumphant in reliving the experience of all that it took to bring the three astronauts home. I remember the actual ...
What becomes of a football fan whose team loses in the playoffs? We weep, we mourn, we ask for consolation hugs and we begin talking of next year. It’s never too soon to dream. January was built for clearing out the mental clutter, making space for our imaginations to work and thinking ahead to how we want our lives to look. Dreams become reality when we focus our attention and act to make them so.
It's 10:30 am. I am standing at my job, having made it out of the house on time, maneuvered traffic successfully and found a fabulous parking space of which every person alive should be envious. I am afforded the luxury of a great view, and I am looking forward to a relatively peaceful day. ...
Let us pray. With these words we close our eyes, bow our heads, fold our hands together and . . then what? We wait for the minister to continue speaking. We reach out to still a squiggly child. We start a grocery list in our heads for the quick stop at the convenience store on the way home. ...
Remembering back as far as I can, prayer has always been a part of my life. At bedtime, the traditional, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I prayer the Lord my soul to keep. Thy love go with me through the night, and wake me with the morning light.” At meals, two different prayers of which only ...
Thanks to Natalie I have a whole new understanding of the word “bless.” Natalie received her first Holy Communion almost twenty years ago with great joy and the accompanying ceremony that welcomes new members to experience the body of Christ in this way. Her uncle, a devout man of the Greek Orthodox faith, gave her a very special gift to honor her commitment, a rosary dipped in what he believed are the tears of Mary, the mother of Jesus. He had been saving the rosary for her specifically for quite awhile.
Where do you like to go on vacation? What is it that you like best about this picture that has popped into your mind? Beautiful scenery, new adventures, great shopping, historical sites, loving travel companions, exquisite food and wine, are all reasons to return to a well-loved place, even if it’s only in your mind. My childhood memories of family vacations are adventures crafted only in my imagination. Movies, books and television programs gave me images of places I hoped to visit, people I wanted to meet and times that could only be retraced by evidence they had left behind.
In an interesting turn of events this week we have had massive rain storms in the Northeaste United States, resulting in flood evacuations in Pennsylvania, and an archeological team from Texas believes it has found Noah's Ark in the Elburz mountains of Iran. Good timing. The team which ...
Working with other people is a daily fact of life for most of us. Corporations, nonprofits, private industries and consultants all depend on people to remain viable. Even more so, their employees need to provide at least some level of cooperation among themselves in order to promote and supply the benefits the organization offers. Working together is another matter.r
My upstairs neighbors are moving out today. I wasn't aware of their impending departure until around eight o'clock this morning when the hustle and bustle of furniture and belongings exiting the building began. I have to say I feel a little sad at the thought, even though I would have to ...
Labor Day weekend always seems to come so quickly, doesn’t it? For children enjoying a summer break, for beach combers still searching for that one, brilliant shell to add to their collection and for those of us who relish a leisurely walk through our neighborhoods in the cool of the early evening, the inevitable approach of fall is always a day early. Labor Day itself, set aside to honor the workers that keep our country running, is a noble way to complete the season known for relaxation. This weekend reminds us that work can be more than the way we earn income.
Brett Favre, quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, announced his retirement this week. At a news conference yesterday his simple explanation for the move was that he was tired. At thirty-eight and possessing graying hair, Favre and his family have been through multiple tragedies and upheavals ...
My colleague, Natalie, recently shared another story with me. It is a classic tale of love found, lost and reclaimed, right before her very eyes.
Have you ever watched Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella? The Broadway musical became a television special in the 1960's and a cherished memory from my childhood ever since. The story itself is timeless: boy meets girl; boy loses girl; boy finds girl once again to live happily ever after. ...
Decorating has always been a part of my life. My mother's subscription to Better Homes and Gardens rarely made it to her hands before mine. Especially during the summer months, when school didn't impede my camping out on our front steps until the mail carrier arrived, I relished each issue ...
You may already know this about yourself, but for me it came as a surprise: I don’t really enjoy shopping. Admitting this publicly is the first step for a fuller life, I am sure, but I haven’t figured out what the second step would be quite yet. I’m a patient woman, so I’ll continue to work with that. This being the season of giving and shopping puts me in the position of making a choice: either make myself miserable over the process or find a way to enjoy myself while performing due diligence.
Remember the old days? So many answers for one simple question. In this case, I am reflecting on how far we have come in securing directions from here to there, wherever here and there may be. Used to be that maps were needed, sometimes several maps, all spread out on the kitchen table or the ...
Strolling up to the deli at my local grocery I didn't expect a conversation about the recession with the kind man plopping my tofu burger into its plastic take-out container. But that is what I got, an informed opinion about how the store was no longer carrying some items that hadn't been great ...
Henry Mora saw an opportunity and seized the day. A gold detector tested positive near the patio in the front yard of his Montclair, Califo ia, home and he figured this might be something big. So he grabbed a shovel and started digging. While he only intended to go down three or four feet, ...
Have you been considering jou aling, but have questions about how to get started? Jou aling is a wonderful way to explore your faith through prayer, reflection and personal narrative. Shared here are some of the popular questions about jou aling, and the opportunity to formulate your own ...
Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day once again. There are those who decry this day as a made up, commercialized holiday designed to sell cards, candy, flowers, jewelry and formal dinner dates. For those folks I remind them of the legitimate historical roots of love and truth in the life of the real man who inspires bold romantic actions today. St. Valentine did exist and can be researched in any way you choose. I also suggest some context:
As I write today we are two days past Easter and one day away from the income tax filing deadline here in the United States. Redemption wrapped in hope could not be more powerfully met in any two days. Or so it seems. Easter is about believing that God's power can defy death. Paying taxes is ...
On a recent trip to Wisconsin I fully realized just how much things change while staying the same. Where once there was one bridge to link the Door Peninsula to the mainland there were now three, the last completed only the week before I arrived. But its original predecessor stood patiently ...
The New England Patriots have announced their desire to create a Hall of Fame celebrating their team's players and accomplishments. While eleven former players are considered Hall of Fame members for their contributions to the sport, their "hall" has been six pages in the team's media guide. ...
Election coverage continues here in the United States. John McCain has been the decided Republican presidential candidate for what seems like a good long while. Democratic hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are still wooing potential voters with their ideas and plans to make our ...
Prayer is the cornerstone of the Christian faith, the communication factor with God that opens us to grace, hope and the very love of God that transforms our lives. So, when do you pray? Think about that for a moment. Think about when you pray before you start reciting the endless list in ...
The Texas Bigfoot Conference, hosted last weekend by Jefferson, Texas, welcomed four hundred firm believers to discussions of sightings and tracking techniques, as well as souvenir tables that offered a T shirt which said, "Bigfoot: Often Imitated, Never Invalidated." It impresses me when ...
I remember watching civil rights workers being hosed down by police on the national news. I remember the march on Washington to which hundreds of thousands of people traveled on a hot summer day to hear that "I Have a Dream" speech. I remember President Johnson signing into law the Voting ...
What images come to mind when you consider the word abundance? Are beautiful homes, shiny cars, lush resorts filled with palm trees and expansive beaches what you imagine? Perhaps sparkling jewels, closets overflowing with designer clothing and endless nights out on the town at first class ...
Independence Day weekend here in the United States invites the citizenry to enjoy the traditions that surround celebrating our emergence as a nation in 1776. We love our parades, picnics, fireworks and speech readings, practices that uphold values of community and hope we still cherish. Our history is checkered with less stellar actions as well, so this day is also a call to recommit ourselves to what is better, not only for the United States, but for the world. Another tradition is the three-day-weekend road trip.