Jane Pettibone 
One of the beautiful things about the concept of story is the transfer of an idea or image from one person to another through words. Susannah, the Shepherd Woman, in Kathy Coffey’s book “Hidden Women of the Gospels” compares words to jewels: Until then, I had never known that words could be precious stones, treasured like jewels, unwrapped, turned over and over, admired. (Kathy Coffey, Hidden Women of the Gospels [New York: Orbis Books, 2003], … Read more
Ever want perfect symmetry in your world? All the right angles to be perfectly square? All the pictures on the wall to hang with a perfectly aligned bubble in the level? Balanced—Proportional—Perfect? Hmmm . . . . Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines symmetry as: the property of being symmetrical; especially correspondence in size, shape, and relative position of parts on opposite sides of a dividing line or meridian plane or about a center or axis It’s … Read more
Have you ever opened a door or come to a passageway and felt you were at the threshold of something exciting, mysterious, promising, or foreboding? Doors and passageways from ancient times to modern day are conduits in our lives. They can swing open or simply beckon us to a particular space. Conversely, they can remain closed, locked, or barricaded. Towering or miniscule, embellished or barren, arched or perpendicular, transparent or solid, organic or inorganic, of … Read more
The crabapple tree in my backyard looks different lately. The spring buds froze after a period of unusual warmth and then the temperature plummeted and iced the tree in a frosty encasement. The usual spring bouquet of white blossoms that flower the tree like confetti was sparse at best. Now in summer, only a handful of green leaves emerge from the branches. I picked up the newspaper and pondered the latest events in the news nationally and worldwide, and the … Read more
I looked at the clock on the wall of my daughter and son-in-law’s home. The frame was worn and burnished down to the natural wood in many places encircling Arabic numerals and diamond-shaped tic marks at 5-minute intervals on the clock face. I clicked a photo at 2:20 p.m. in the afternoon and noticed the markings of the Grand Hotel in Paris, 1968. The clock had a certain mystique to it and I wondered … Read more
Oh, the relief of open spaces! A few weeks ago I looked out on a vista overlooking the Sonoran Desert in Arizona and felt something utterly amazing. The cluttering distractions of daily life seemed to melt away as I looked out to the expanse of open land in front of me. In fact, what went through my thoughts gazing out across the various textures and colors of the just-blooming desert floor was a very spiritual … Read more
This morning as I walked into the kitchen I was greeted by sunshine streaming through the window over the sink. I felt surprised by this new angle of sun filling the room, the bright, warm light on my face. Hope flooded me as I realized some of the things spring brings: green fuzz on trees; daffodils erupting from cold earth; birdsong in bushes. By late morning, however, the sky seemed to take on a dreary … Read more
Come along with me on my very first blog! I’ve made a path for you to travel. The poet Robert Frost phrased it so well: “I sha’n’t be gone long.—You come too.” This past fall I hiked into Jedidiah Smith Redwoods State Park in California. The fog had lifted and sun streamed through the mighty redwood columns illuminating the forest in golden shafts of sunlight. To me, it looked like diagonal window panes hung from … Read more