Marilyngardner5

LATEST ARTICLES ( 1127 )

• A Slice of Life from Charlestown – Volume 1: A Map of New Beginnings

  

  I'm sitting in the window seat of our little red house in Charlestown. I love that I have already discovered this sweet space for writing, thinking, staring... Read more

  Posted on 02 October 2019 RELIGION, SELF EXPRESSION

• Lost in the Land of Plenty

  

  A lot has happened since I posted the beautiful piece from my daughter about falling in love with your neighborhood. We moved. Those two words are loaded with... Read more

  Posted on 13 September 2019 RELIGION, SELF EXPRESSION

• Fall in Love with Your Neighborhood

  

  On Sunday, we are moving to a new neighborhood. We found a little house to rent in a historic area of Boston. It is painted a deep red and has a postage-stamp... Read more

  Posted on 28 August 2019 RELIGION, SELF EXPRESSION

• Low Tide at Wingaersheek

  

  Wingaersheek Beach is a beach in Gloucester, Massachusetts. A winding road off Route 128 takes you up hills and around curves, like you're traveling to... Read more

  Posted on 24 August 2019 RELIGION, SELF EXPRESSION

• Thoughts from El Paso

  Friends - One of our dear friends, Sami DiPasquale, and a former student from the Middle East Studies Program that my husband started many years ago, lives and... Read more

  Posted on 07 August 2019 RELIGION, SELF EXPRESSION

• Waking to Hope

  Yesterday I cried all day. If I wasn't crying visibly, I was crying internally. I cried for dreams found and then lost and plans redirected. I cried for all... Read more

  Posted on 06 August 2019 RELIGION, SELF EXPRESSION

• Fingerprints of Grace

  

  My friend Robynn sent me a gift today. It was a series of photos from a book, a lament and liturgy for the death of a dream. We live in a world that loves to... Read more

  Posted on 19 July 2019 RELIGION, SELF EXPRESSION

• On 35 Years of Marriage

  

  We get to the Athens Central station early but already it is filled with travelers. We look around at crowds of Greeks on their way to Thessaloniki or other... Read more

  Posted on 16 July 2019 RELIGION, SELF EXPRESSION

• On Needing Grace During Transition

  

  We have been back for 10 days and it's already beginning to feel like Kurdistan was a dream that never really happened. A dream with a few nightmare like... Read more

  Posted on 11 July 2019 RELIGION, SELF EXPRESSION

• On Soft Landings and Waiting

  We shake with joy, we shake with grief. What a time they have, these two housed as they are in the same body. Mary Oliver We arrived yesterday on a flight... Read more

  Posted on 01 July 2019 RELIGION, SELF EXPRESSION

• The Importance of Goodbyes

  

  I'm surrounded by suitcases. Each of them are partially full, unfinished puzzles waiting for the right piece to go into the vacant spot. I look at my husband... Read more

  Posted on 18 June 2019 RELIGION, SELF EXPRESSION

• As the End Begins

  

  We began packing yesterday morning. Before coffee or tea, before breakfast, before we had a chance to breathe and then catch our breath, we were removing books... Read more

  Posted on 17 June 2019 RELIGION, SELF EXPRESSION

• Ferdinand’s Secret

  

  Ferdinand's Secret by Anonymous I am happy to see the story of Ferdinand, that gentle, flower-sniffing, pacifist bull has made the big screen. I have not seen... Read more

  Posted on 10 June 2019 RELIGION, SELF EXPRESSION

• God of Loss

  It is the time of graduations, moves, end of fiscal year budget crunching, and expatriate turnover. Sometimes moves are expected, and other times they come... Read more

  Posted on 28 May 2019 RELIGION, SELF EXPRESSION

• Rumors of War – Musings from Kurdistan

  The messages began early yesterday. "Are you okay? Will you be leaving?" "What are your thoughts on the news? When are you all coming back?" "Hey! What's... Read more

  Posted on 16 May 2019 RELIGION, SELF EXPRESSION

• Hard Goodbyes; Sweet Hellos

  

  Sometimes I think my writing flows best when I am at the airport. It is here where my thoughts and feelings find a space in my brain, and the words come... Read more

  Posted on 07 May 2019 RELIGION, SELF EXPRESSION

• Celebrating a Quiet Life

  

  Ask anyone about my father-in-law Richard Gardner and they will tell you that he was a quiet man, a listener who married a talker. He had simple tastes and led... Read more

  Posted on 06 May 2019 RELIGION, SELF EXPRESSION

• The Goers and the Stayers

  

  We arrived at Logan Airport at 6:30 in the evening after an 18 hour day of flying. We were tired and bleary-eyed, but also excited. We got through immigration i... Read more

  Posted on 23 April 2019 RELIGION, SELF EXPRESSION

• The Danger of Forgetting

  A long ago friend is killed miles away from his family. Notre Dame Cathedral burns, an icon in flames. A dear Kurdish friend's sister dies. I sit at the... Read more

  Posted on 16 April 2019 RELIGION, SELF EXPRESSION

• On Longing

  

  Longing. What is it? How would you describe this word? Not the dictionary definition, but your own heart definition? A couple of weeks ago I asked folks how... Read more

  Posted on 21 March 2019 RELIGION, SELF EXPRESSION