It's hard to believe, as I hobble around on a cane these days, that I was golfing three times a week, doing yoga twice a week and an exercise class twice a week too, just over a month ago in Naples. Our return to Minnesota for the summer has presented me with unexpected challenges. I knew my hip was going to have to be addressed. I just didn't count on the experience I am having now. Bo[...]
The Journey to Peace Is a Daily Commitment 7 p.m., Friday, July 28–noon, Sunday, July 30, 2017. This retreat focuses on the Twelve Step tools we have all come to embrace, enhanced by basic principles from A Course in Miracles. Peace is the ultimate goal of the course, and peace is what we all deserve from living the Twelve Steps. You will understand how to attain greater peace th[...]
Dear friends. How glad I am that at least some of you have weathered the storms with me these last few months. Along with being off the grid as far as my website has been concerned, I have been a bit out of sync with much that has always kept me grounded. While in Naples these last 6 months, much of my life was rich and full of meetings and great activities, with both new friends and old[...]
I remember as though it were yesterday the first time I heard “The Peace Song.” It was at the close of a Sunday service at the Unity Church in Golden Valley, MN. I was just a few months sober and had gone to Unity at the suggestion of one of my new friends in AA. At the close of the service all the congregants stood and held hands. And then the singing began. I was mesmerized. As the t[...]
Thanks to the able mind of my web host, I am functioning again. It's truly disheartening when someone takes over your site and prevents you from connecting with your friends. Some folks have cold hearts I think. They deserve our prayers, however. Everyone deserves our prayers actually. Even though I am not in the middle of writing a book currently, I can feel myself racing within. The h[...]
I remember reading a small blue pamphlet titled Acceptance a few months into my recovery from alcoholism. I was struck by its simplicity. And its gentleness. But I was even more impressed with its effect on my mind. After the initial reading of its amazingly loving message, I could pick it up and read only a line or two and feel my shoulders relax, my mind quiet down, and my dread of a sit[...]
I got the proverbial "screaming" virus alert erupting from my computer screen when I tried to go into one of my online accounts Friday afternoon. "Call this number! Don't leave this page! Call this number!" And pop ups proliferated. Immediately I turned the computer off, regardless of the admonishments not to. And I called the bank. They assured me they had not been hacked but suggested[...]
I have said in more than one place that I was going to write more blog posts, Facebook messages, and explore other social media during this down time when I am not in the midst of another book. I need the structure of writing and I need the connection to my Higher Power. You have all heard me say or read my words somewhere that God speaks to me as I sit here. That's been true from the firs[...]
Perhaps it's simply a sign of old age. Mondays quickly become Fridays. My "to do" list gets longer and longer and fewer things get checked off. And right now, I am actually not as busy as in the months that have recently passed. As of this past Saturday, I have completed all my speaking engagements for 2016. And I am adding engagements very selectively for 2017. I do hope my path crosse[...]
And what a birthday it was. I'm actually proud to share my age with others. I never thought I'd feel so good and be so content at this age. In case you didn't read it on Facebook, I am now 77 years old. Yikes. When my grandmother was this age, she seemed old to me. Wonderfully kind and nurturing but old. I well remember her driving us to the park to ride the merry-go-round every night duri[...]
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