Archive for Suzette Standring – Page 5

Kobe and Gianna Bryant: It felt personal to me, but why?

The tragic deaths of Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others in a helicopter crash felt intimate to me, though I do not follow sports, nor have I ever met them. Yet imagining the sudden loss of a father and daughter is a dread I can feel in my bones.  Also, all of […]

New Year, New Decade: Packing for it, and leaving old baggage behind

We are in a new moon phase entering the third decade of the 21st century and I’m relieved to see 2019 in my rear view mirror. Perhaps I’m not alone. Now it’s time to assess the hurts, disappointments, betrayals, and plain bad luck of the past year. Why? Because I’m packing for a new decade, […]

Feed the hungry? There’s an app for that

(Photo of my friend Adriana in 2016) “Feed the hungry” is in every spiritual teaching. Think of food pantries, Meals on Wheels, soup kitchens and casseroles taken to nearby friends and families. Recently, I found a way to send food to those in need who live out of state. Spiritual kindness can be made practical […]

Extreme Forgiveness: Exemplary or Insane?

(Photo by Tom Fox/Reuters) Extreme forgiveness brings harsh criticism in the face of rulings, verdicts and sentences that appear unfair. For loss of life, the right punishment or exact recompense is never reached.  Therefore, how is forgiveness even possible? Texas police officer Amber Guyger entered an apartment she mistook for her own, and shot and […]

Mercedes: When the person praying looks scary

(Photo of All Hallows Roman Catholic Church, my childhood parish. From San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library. http://www.sfpl.org/sfphotos When all the shouting’s done, humble goodness shines forever.  Temporary power and posturing are empty calories that disappear. But quiet strength continues to nourish decades later.  I remember Mercedes, an old woman whose last name I […]