Friday Tidings

Mae Long before government programs assisted single moms and children, Mae needed to find a way to support herself and her young daughter, Gracie. Her husband, the philandering accountant, had run off with another woman. She was desperate but not undone. He’d left her with a car and a couple suitcases of clothes. Mae promised her landlord to pay for their room within a month. She then drove with her daughter to Providence Hospital and offered a shuttle service.  Maybe it was the plight of the young mother, or the fierce determination in her willingness to drive anywhere at anytime, but her business soon thrived. Gracie Mae was dependably dropping patients off, running errands, and delivering nuns from their convent to their work at the hospital. Mae became an Uber driver nearly one hundred years before Uber. Not only did Mae survive her divorce, she found out she was a savvy businesswoman.  Her daughter, inspired by the nurses, graduated

I remember Dad telling me to listen quietly as he turned the volume up on President Kennedy’s speech. Kennedy was challenging scientists and astronauts to set their sights on a moon landing.  The whole moon exploration set off a wave of inspirational thinking.  I was four when the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair featured the Space Needle—and it’s out-of-this-world design. I still have my Space Needle souvenir. From fashions to building designs to kid’s toys—it all took on a futuristic look. I was a bit older as I listened to President Nixon give the Apollo 11 astronauts a hearty send-off as they blasted towards their lunar destination. I watched our grainy black and white screen as Neil Armstrong took his first step on the moon. Yes, I’m that old to remember all of this. In school, we were introduced to basic rocket science, and watched NASA films explaining the details of what space travel involved. The whole idea of going to the moon inspired awesome inventions—li

A small monument for a boy and his father stands in the center of the baseball park where they’d spent so many hours.  The boy’s first home run ball and his mitt are encased in bronze.  As etched words in the granite explain—both father and son were killed by a drunk driver.  Now, nearly two years later, a dedication of the monument and an adjacent baseball batting cage brought together those who still feel the tremendous loss.  The surviving family members and small community have tried to make sense of the senseless. The addition to the ball park will be a bittersweet reminder of their love of baseball and the special memories made there. As I walked by the engraved bricks—with messages of hope, loss, grief, and memories—I was looking for my grandson’s words carved into the one he had made. It’s been painful for him. His best friend’s picture remains on his nightstand. I ache for him as he mourns quietly. Then I gazed at the monument. It told a

Ask any married couple if they ever disagree. They come together to share life and at times sharing life is challenging. Differences emerge—throughout the journey.  The love, joy, and hope that brings a couple together needs to be stronger than the ideals that cause separation. Strong marriages offer so much hope to our communities. It’s the same with America. A strong America has so much to offer our world. So, may the things that divide our nation never be outweighed by the core values that unite our nation.  This is the way marriages last, and it’s the way nations remain united.  Jesus said, “Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other will not last very long; a family divided against itself falls apart.”    Luke 11:17 GNT