The bottom of a peanut butter jar evokes a spiritual moment for me. The scrape of the knife against the sides takes me back to summer days in Xenia, Ohio. I was seven years old and staying next door with my grandparents while my mother finished the needed hours for her teaching degreeContinue reading “ABUNDANCE IN AN EMPTY JAR”
Author Archives: Anna Bach LIechty
October Light
I love the golden hue of October light, the patina of an aging year. The glow seems heavy as though the late morning sunlight is swimming against the tide of time. I understand. My life force feels the same resistance in my aging bones. Still, many say that fall is their favorite time of year. Continue reading “October Light”
Breathing in, Breathing out
I’ve not written much for months. But I’ve been breathing in and out just the same. Pretty forgettable behavior. In fact, we breathe automatically, without even thinking. Unless we can’t. Or unless we become intentional about centering prayer, about listening to life happen within us. I’d like to claim that’s what I have been doingContinue reading “Breathing in, Breathing out”
So How Are You
At the beginning of a New Year, lots of organizations send appeals and retrospectives to encourage us to stay connected as we anticipate the coming days. My mailbox overflows it seems, and often the slicks go right to the recycle bin. But Center for Hospice holds a special place in my heart, so I didn’tContinue reading “So How Are You”
Day of Days
December 1st is a day of days in my life. Two years ago today our lives changed forever. By 6 am – the time I am writing this – we were already in the emergency room at our local hospital, assessing the extent of Ron’s stroke, contemplating where to go next. Two years later, theContinue reading “Day of Days”
Fishing for My Father
Recently, a friend challenged me to write about the times I have recognized the Spirit’s Presence in my life. Now that my right shoulder is recovering well from my rotator cuff surgery, I will pick up my blog again to do some exploring of the long list I made of significant moments that have servedContinue reading “Fishing for My Father”
Talking with Stones
Talk about pressure! Choosing a marker to represent the life of someone you love brings a whole new set of challenges in the grieving process. What symbols do I use? What verse from scripture would be best? Do I include Ron’s titles? How else do people know what his passion was? So many choices. IContinue reading “Talking with Stones”
What Gives You Pause?
Before he studied to be an industrial engineer, my dad taught in a one room schoolhouse. Sometimes he would remember a favorite lesson and try to teach it to me. Once he asked me to read a sentence he jotted on a 3×5 card: All that that is is all that that is not isContinue reading “What Gives You Pause?”
Firsts
And so begins a series of “firsts” in the grieving process. Today is Ron’s birthday – the first since his death on March 11th (my birthday). I am teary. Not surprising. At first I was tempted to give in, to begin this day filled with reflection on my loss. However, Facebook popped up a “year-iago-todayContinue reading “Firsts”
What’s in your bucket?
I have long loved the story of the “Woman at the Well” found in John, Chapter Four of Holy Writ. The Samaritan woman’s encounter with Jesus always seemed to me to be the practical illustration of John 3:17 (not quite so famous as 3:16) that says, “Indeed, God did not send the Son into theContinue reading “What’s in your bucket?”
In it for the Long Run 