Blog - Death and Dying

Twice in the last several months I’ve had occasion to tell the tale of the time I stood in front of my late husband’s closet, charged with choosing the clothes in which he’d be buried.

This blog will be laced with obscenities.

On another note, one of my mentors, Murray Haar, at the peak of craziness post-accident, told me that one of his favorite NT tales is of the woman who anointed Jesus.

We found out last week that my mother has pancreatic cancer.

there’s more to do with our lives than preserve them.

The below appeared in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader newspaper today.  I’m reposting it here, because it’s a Holy Saturday-ish set of musings.

Today we awoke to a Christmas Day for the picture books.

Last week, I got this query:
Hello Anna,

The problem I see every day amongst Christians is the inability to find a more practical explanation to those of us who don’t quite understand the meaning of giving up your only son to save a bunch of sinners. Why would anyone do that? And worse: no matter what kind of crook you’ve been your whole life,  just accept such a travesty and you secured a spot in heaven. And I’m supposed to reason with that?????  Come on!!!

“Eloi Eloi Lama Sabachthani?” cried Jesus from the cross.

My daughter Else and I have settled in these last several nights to read Bridge to Terabithia.

Two days ago I learned that my friend Ellie committed suicide.

In the bleak midwinter, frost wind made moan,

I just finished reading a review of Barbara Ehrenreich’s book Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking has Undermined America. You can find the link here. If you’re wondering why you’ve heard of Barbara Ehrenreich before, your memory is tingling because she wrote the notable book Nickle and Dimed.

So. I recognize that I have been lax in writing.

After the accident, somebody told me that that best metaphor that they could think for me was that of Holy Saturday.

So the word for the day is, simply, death.