And so, life goes on. People buying and selling, eating and drinking, caring for their children, laboring in the fields…
Author Archives: Diana Elizabeth Carroll
Post Office Funeral
Every griefreminds usof every other grief. I hardly knew this woman,yet I weep,as I drive her ashesto the post officeand mail themto her sister in Florida. Both pallbearer and priest,I pray silently,as I lay her box to restinside another box,shroud it gentlyin plain brown paper,and seal it upwith tape. “One last adventure,”I say to her,toContinue reading “Post Office Funeral”
The Cost of Living
The first fine frosty morning
of fall.
Every branch,
every blade of grass,
picked out in patterns
of wispy white.
Insights from 2021
For several years, I have used a physical planner* that includes lots of tools for reflection and goal-setting. I find the monthly planning pages particularly helpful. At the beginning of the month, there is an invitation to set three goals and, for each one, identify a “Reason Why” and “Distractions to Avoid.” At the endContinue reading “Insights from 2021”
Two Trees
Last year, about this time, I went on a much-needed retreat. It had been over two years since I was able to spend time at this particular retreat center: a beloved place where I have always felt connected and held. The center is surrounded by forest. For the first seven years of my going there,Continue reading “Two Trees”
Summer Solstice
Today is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. Three years ago on this day, I was on the Isle of Iona, dancing with my wife Sarah at a ceilidh to celebrate the long history of the Iona Village Hall, before it was deconstructed and a new facility built in its place. IContinue reading “Summer Solstice”
Dawn Chorus
My first Easterwithouta congregation.Restless,I risein the early morning hoursto the soundof the dawn choruspouring out timeless hymnsto the open sky. In a borrowed gardennot my own,I now feed birdsinstead of people,offering fresh waterand mealwormsin place of bread and wine. Instead of souls,I tend flowers.They areless complicated,but the needsare much the same. Above it all,where theContinue reading “Dawn Chorus”
Scarred
Last fall,
they found a spot
of melanoma
on my arm.
The treatment:
a plastic surgeon
carved out a section
of my skin…
Easter Day Sermon: Passing Over
That in-between place at the end of Mark’s gospel, where we hear of the resurrection but have not yet experienced it, sounds very much like the place where we find ourselves now in relation to the pandemic…
Good Friday Sermon: For Our Sins?
A man, a member of a subjugated people, dies at the hands of the state. A crowd of onlookers watches, helpless to intervene, as he slowly suffocates to death. The officials who kill him believe that they are simply doing their job…
Diana Elizabeth Carroll 