Just as much as marriage, divorce or separation can be a holy choice. When divorce is grounded in deep reflection and care, it can be an expression of love and commitment to life. Read more »

I still use the copy of The Joy of Cooking I got for Christmas in 1969. This now-fragile cookbook has memories stained into many of its pages (especially the peanut-butter cookie page). Read more »

It was the third summer of my seminary training, and I was completing the required “Clinical Pastoral Education” by serving as a student chaplain in a women’s prison near Tacoma, Washington. Read more »

The stories we tell of heaven and hell are not about how we die, but about how we live. Read more »

I have mentioned my garden in past columns—how much joy and life I find there and how central to my spiritual practice it is from spring through fall. Read more »

“Forgiveness is the name of love practiced among people who love poorly. The hard truth is that all people love poorly.” ―Henri J.M. Nouwen

“Healing yourself is connected with healing others.” —Maya Angelou

“The beginning of atonement is the sense of its necessity. ” —Lord Byron

“Without forgiveness there is no future.”—Desmond Tutu

“Suddenly there is a point when religion becomes laughable. Then you decide that you are nevertheless religious.”—Thomas Merton