Ramble On

This is a poem for Good Friday that my Aunt Jill sent my mom years ago. Since it is Good Friday today, I thought I'd share it with you all. It's from a collection of works called Waters Under the Earth (Canon Press) by Robert Seigel. This Lenten season has been a particularly meaningful one for me. I don't know that I really understood the journey of lent or the joy of Easter (other than assured receipt of mass quantities of chocolate, and maybe a pretty new dress if I was lucky) before I was an adult. It's strange for me to think of how disconnected I was from my faith for most of my childhood. It felt like something that happened around me and that I was only marginally involved in, simply because I was present for it. Now having taken ownership of it and being an active participant, the words I've been saying for so many years have sprouted new branches of understanding. The liturgy I've said for so long has formed deep roots and a structure from w...

I used to enter contests all the time. Sweepstakes, lotteries, games of chance, filling out surveys for gift certificates, etc. If it took less than 5 minutes to enter, I always did it. I never won anything. After COUNTLESS attempts at beating the odds, zilch. It's a typical story. I've never really gambled because I don't feel like giving my money away. It's too hard to come by. So in the last few weeks, I've taken a different approach. I've entered things that actually required skill to win and had some pretty good experiences. The last two weeks at my local trivia night, my team has taken home top honors and a $50 bar tab. I'm not going to take the credit for this because it has largely been due to the older brother of a college friend who plays with me. He knows the sports trivia cold and that's always where I crumble. But we've been riding high on our victories and we've also won a bid in the annual trivia tournament of champion...