WHAT WE’RE LOVING NOW. . . REAGAN: A Reagan scene of a time in his youth as a river lifeguard portrays his protective, courageous nature and how his skill watching river currents connects with his ability to perceive cultural changes. Other clips show young Reagan as an actor with a stint as a somewhat…
Learning to Walk Again How I Leaned on the Lord in My Most Difficult Times I stand wearing a huge, metal, robotic-type cast on my leg from hip to foot, feeling like Iron Woman. When I walk, you can hear me coming, clanking down the path. The bracing chafes at my skin, while my…
1 NORTHERN GREECE: Philippi, Kavala, Thessaloniki It had me at the river. A smoothly cascading river, rippling through rocks and ferns in a clearing near a woodland, hypnotized me. Its tune was lilting, and I completely relaxed. The soul wholeness this site brought me made the whole trip worthwhile. It was our first stop after…
From Warsaw, Poland to Irvine, California Christine Caine’s talk at Women’s Leadership Night at Mariners Church emphasized being urgently non-anxious about our faith during the Ukraine war and distressful flow of refugees. Fresh from a worship gathering in Warsaw, Poland, where Christine spoke to people who came from every Polish village, she encouraged So Cal…
A wonderful mentor of mine, Gail Ochs, introduced me to Hoda Melki, a lovely young woman with an intriguing accent, who seemed as if she was a typical Laguna Beach local. Upon further conversation, she revealed she and her husband direct a Lebanese camp for Syrian refugees, Heart For Lebanon. Our meeting was weeks before…
20-year anniversary Just as we welcome new solutions to both local and global challenges, we open ourselves to fresh life stories, and in doing so peruse narratives of the recent past. The apostle Peter would say we reflect with thankfulness in setting an informed future course of action “so that your faith and hope are…
The US has shut the door on Afghanistan, but the women we helped get an education are speaking out. A young Afghan woman in Kabul says, “Now I have to burn everything I achieved.” She tells of seeing all around her the “fearful faces of women and ugly faces of men who hate women.”: Anonymous…
Young people are looking for avenues for recreation and different perspectives during this crisis. Some are realizing dreams, while others are succumbing to depression. “This too shall pass” is a adage to recall, even as we come out of one computer graph swing and go onto the next in health, economics, and education. Is it…
The Dream Center, Los Angeles, California Five years back when my Concordia University Irvine writing student presented her oral research project on the Dream Center Los Angeles, I was taken aback to hear this expansive facility for several hundred underserved people even existed. As she excitedly described it then, co-founder Matthew Barnett was clearly half-crazy…
The airwaves are alive with the sound of music– laughter and story– as a familiar, melodious voice beckons us to a glorious, imaginary world. You might think you’re hearing Mary Poppins or Queen Clarisse Renaldi in The Princess Diaries, but it’s Dame Julie Andrews in JULIE’S LIBRARY: STORY TIME WITH JULIE. Julie and her daughter…