“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Matthew 23: 27-28. Jesus overturing tables in the temple Todays FMF word prompt is Polite. There are some potential problems with always being polite. For instance, the Pharisees may have had

“God is light; in him there is no darkness at all… If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus… purifies us from all sin.” John 1:5-7 hand in darkess, with light shining on it Part of being human is a tendency to hide.  We bury things we don’t want others to see or even things we don’t want to face ourselves in order to avoid pain.  We fear that we can’t tolerate the emotional pain of what we might experience sho

“‘“The Lord bless you     and keep you;   the Lord make his face shine on you     and be gracious to you;   the Lord turn his face toward you     and give you peace.”’ Numbers 6 24-26 When my daughter was younger, in her days of choir, she sang this benediction and it was included on a CD for parents to keep.  I remember many car trips with the calming music settling peacefully into otherwise busy stressful days. It is such a beautiful benediction, and on days when the sun co

image by John Royle-Unsplash "As the deer pants for water, so my soul longs for you, my God” Psalm 42 :1 There are moments when we feel an ache deep within, a sense that something is missing. It may be related to lack of sense of purpose or meaning. Or it may be relational a kind of loneliness, or a desire for companionship. It can be a quiet, persistent longing, the kind that makes us pause and wonder if we are searching for something or someone who doesn’t quite exist in

“Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of many will grow cold.”Matthew 24:12 James and Judy sit on opposite sides of the room frustrated with the lack of closeness between them. James is belitteling Judy, using guilt and criticism to try to motivate her to draw close to him. The barage of insults is only making Judy withdraw more. She sits with her arms crossed and eyes to the floor. In essence she has shut down. You could say she has become cold toward James’ atte

Thanks to social media, psycho jargon gets passed around and spreads, sometimes incorrectly, like wildfire—or shall I say gaslit fire?...

Elections can spark strong feelings and tensions among friends and family. Disagreements over candidates or political ideologies often...

Election years, and especially the months surrounding an election, are interesting for therapists. First of all, we are human and we have...

So for the Five minute Friday prompt (which I'm writing on Tuesday..hmmm) is Matter. And the reason I delayed in writing is because this...

Do you remember when you were young, just starting out in life and the world was your oyster? I'm guessing you had big plans, big hopes...

When I initially meet with a new client, I go over their history. I actually have a form I send home on our first meeting called the...

What if I told you that you are living your life in the midst of a great story, a scene so to speak, or a chapter in a story that had...

Remember (if you are of a certain age) when you played a record in reverse there could possibly be revealed some sort of eerie...

When you think about it, much of the crazy annoying things that happen in life border on the edge of absurdity. If we can step back from...

When a person first comes to see me for therapy, they are specifically seeking some help with a pain point in their life. This pain may...

Ahh! The magic of summer! I've learned long ago to make a play list to enjoy all of the simple pleasure of summer to savor the season!...

Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old...

And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The...

I haven’t been doing the five minute Friday link ups as often or as regularly as I’d like.  Last year I started working on a Bible Study...

Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will...