Author Archives: hopesquires

About hopesquires

I've left behind the daily grind to write full time and to figure out what my own flourishing tree looks like. I'd love to help you flourish and grow along the way, so that you, too, can cultivate a life that pleases God.

Remembering Boston

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Almost two months have passed since the bombings at the Boston Marathon. To some of you, it may feel just like yesterday. To others, it may be just another example of a world gone tragically mad that is quickly fading into memory.

For runners, the bombings in Boston have become woven into the fabric of our running tapestry. For those fast enough, there are marathons to run to get a Boston qualifier for next year’s marathon. The print publication cycle has caught up, and I can’t pick up a running magazine without reading yet another runner’s account of this year’s Boston. The qualifying attempts and the runners’ stories serve as memorials of a sort, but there’s something in human grief that wants a more tangible memorial. And as a result, Boylston Street is filling with trinkets/treasures/trash.

I was in Boston recently and wanted to go to Boylston Street to see the finish line and the areas affected by the bombings. Yes, I was being a tourist, but I also wanted to offer a prayer there for those still recovering from their injuries and for those who will never get over the loved ones they lost that day.

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My husband and I were on our way to the airport for a flight, and so he dropped me off and circled a few blocks while I walked around, puzzled by how little I actually saw left behind:

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At first, just this small tree covered with bracelets and beads and shirts

I was expecting race bibs and signs and finishers’ medals and old shoes and flowers.

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Flowers and stuffed animals and American flags sprinkle the ground near the blast sites.

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More beads and bracelets left behind in Boston

What I didn’t realize until later – when I got home and Googled images for Boston bombing memorials – was that the clutter had become so overwhelming that someone (city officials?) decided to move the memorial area to a square nearby.

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I took this photo, not realizing that the people and stuff were not some sort of street fair but rather the memorial area where people could congregate and leave behind mementos.

The square is past the finish line, and therefore beyond the bombing sites, and so maybe that’s why I didn’t think to look there. Continue reading →

Lessons from my first Bar Mitzvah

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My husband and I attended our first Bar Mitzvah this weekend, for the son of dear friends. This was only my second time stepping foot in a temple, and I was nervous about feeling out of place or not understanding what was happening. I left the temple with a much greater appreciation for and understanding of the beautiful tradition of Bar Mitzvah. And I found myself wishing that Christian churches had a similar ceremony to accompany confirmation or other membership rites.

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A detail of “Israel and the Law,” a study John Singer Sargent created for a mural in the Boston Public Library. In this image, Jehovah is instructing the boy Israel in reading the Torah.

The first time I was in a temple, I was probably in eighth or ninth grade. My church youth group took a field trip to visit a nearby temple, and the place seemed dark and foreboding to me. I don’t remember much from that trip, although I was pleased – and a bit surprised – to be allowed in. Maybe this is how non-Christians feel when they enter a Christian church?

The temple where the Bar Mitzvah was held this past weekend was bright and lovely and filled with gentle sunlight filtering in from the hot day outside. As we entered to take our seats, I noticed a mezuzah attached to one of the doors. Because I knew exactly what this was and exactly what it was for, I took a deep breath of relief: something I recognized. Something that made me feel less out of place.

The cantor for the ceremony (akin to a liturgist in the Christian church) made us feel welcome, too, inviting us to sing a wordless song along with her. Her beautiful voice and encouraging demeanor made it impossible not to try, and she ushered us into the start of the Bar Mitzvah ceremony.

One of my favorite parts happened next, when the rabbi welcomed us to the temple and said it was a time to celebrate and worship without cell phones and all the distracting techonologies that vie for attention in the outside world. I thought it was a lovely way to remind people, “Turn off your cell phones!” But he really meant it. Later on, he kindly asked that those who were taking photographs stop and put down the cameras and the phones. He truly wanted us to savor this ceremony in its moment.  Continue reading →

The birds of the air

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My husband and I spent a few precious days at our home away from home in the mountains this past weekend. Life grows stiller there for us, and we come back home rejuvenated for the tasks that lie ahead.

During this past trip, I called my mom, and she asked in a quiet, hopeful voice, “Have you seen any hummingbirds yet?”

A few weeks back, one hummingbird buzzed by the house, hoping for the feeder of sugar water because the cold, wet spring had made the flowers shy to bloom. It had been a miserably wet weekend, and though I hadn’t yet put out the hummingbird feeder, thinking it too early for them to have come back for the season, we had put seed out for other birds. And they came in droves to show off their finery and eat their fill.

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A male rose-breasted grosbeak enjoys a meal in the pouring rain.

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Posing for the camera?

Continue reading →

The fragility we’d like to ignore

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Newtown, Boston and now Moore force us to confront issues we often prefer to ignore. But seeing the devastation of the tornado that swept through Oklahoma on Monday and trying to explain that level of loss to ourselves and our children make us face the fact that life is fragile.

We’d like to ignore this inconvenient fact, this fragility of life. Some ignore it by sky-diving or bungee jumping or participating in other extreme sports. “Hah! See. I have cheated death.” Others fight this fact by diving into medical research to find cures for incurable diseases. Others by trying to create stronger safe rooms that can withstand the fury of an EF-5 tornado.

I think on some level, we all try to deny this fragility of life by simply getting out of bed each day and going about our normal activities.

But how do we respond when the evil in humankind (Newtown and Boston) or the power of nature force us to stop and look head on at how quickly life can change? Some travel to the site to help physically. Some donate money. Some read news stories looking for nuggets of hope, such as the news of a lower death toll than originally reported in the tornado’s aftermath and videos like this interview with a woman who is reunited with her dog during a news interview.

Those of us who are believers pray. We turn to God for answers even where we know there are no easy answers. We trust that though life is fragile here in this earthly place, there is a heaven where life endures, where cancer doesn’t grow and kill, where murder never happens, where tornados never tear communities apart.

I’m not Catholic, but there are times that I deeply appreciate the Catholic church’s rosaries and candles and other physical reminders of God calling us to prayer. After all, in prayer, God can strengthen us. In prayer, we acknowledge our fragile lives. In prayer, we remember that nothing can separate us from God.

I leave you today with images from San Jose Mission in San Antonio, Texas. This beautiful place brought me peace on a hot, baking day this past weekend, and I hope the pictures will be for you an invitation to prayer.

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Notice the sign: Please do not climb on this tree. It is fragile.

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An angel watches over passersby, detail on the exterior of the mission

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A much more ornate altar than I expected to find in this place

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A small statue of Mary tucked away in a corner

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Candles of prayer and petition

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On the grounds of Mission San Jose

The purpose that prevails

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“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21 (NIV)

What did you want to be when you were little? If you’re like me, you daydreamed about becoming lots of different things. I made two paintings in elementary school two years apart that showed what I wanted to be when I grew up: an artist the first year, a teacher the second. Every year, sometimes every day, I thought up new things I wanted to be when I was older.

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My elementary school idea of what I’d grow up to be, complete with a change in eye color and a floating body (notice that my shoes aren’t attached to the rest of me).

It seems like even now I never stop dreaming about what direction my life will go next, but I have to remember not to get too carried away with myself. Proverbs 19:21 speaks to these plans in my heart, with a beautiful reminder that I’m not ultimately in charge (whew! that’s a relief).

With hindsight, there are plenty of times in my life that I’m grateful for God saying no, because He had something even better in mind for me. But I wasn’t very thankful when I was living in those moments. His “No” seemed difficult and even bewildering.

But now that I have seen bewilderment turn into blessing, I need to keep a firm grasp on the truth of Proverbs 19:21 as I work to fulfill the hopes and dreams and plans I have for my future. Continue reading →