Author Archives: RuthG

Weep With Those Who Weep

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This is not the blog I started writing the morning before a monstrous tornado hit Oklahoma.  This is written as news of the rising death toll streams across my screen.  As I switched between news sources I was stopped by this simple sentence on CNN:

“A father of a third-grader still missing sat quietly on a stool. Tears fell from his eyes as he waited for news of his son.”

Night has fallen in Moore, Oklahoma, and the searchers are looking for missing children at the elementary school. When I think of that waiting dad, my tears fall, too. Continue reading →

Something Good

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Last week my husband Tom and I took a ferry to Hart Island, NYC’s burial grounds for the poor and homeless. On the ride over we met a nurse who had cared for many of the newborns who were laid to rest in the island’s soil. She was going to visit their graves, even though she had only known them in the few short minutes of their lives and in their deaths. Her words left a lasting impression on me…… Continue reading →

Never-let-go Love

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While searching online for a gift, I found this travel mug which reads, “My son, I lied.  I’m never letting go.”

How true to our mommy hearts!

As much as we moms want our sons to grow up and be independent, we feel an unquelled surge of emotion that wants to hold our boys forever!

Just look at Jesus’ mother Mary; even at the terror, disgrace and agony of his crucifixion she refused to leave Jesus.

This Sunday we celebrate that never-let-go love.  We all need it, but we may long to feel it…. Continue reading →

Leap of Faith

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The longest jump I ever cared to make was 6 feet into a lake, which is why Felix Baumgartner’s skydive from 24 miles up boggles my mind.  Just looking at the photos from his helium balloon makes my stomach cringe.  Where did Baumgartner get the courage to step out of the capsule and jump?  Was the jump a crazy leap of faith?  Or was it a step of reason?

Continue reading →

Face Time

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My firstborn was a smiling, laughing, happy little guy and a delight to everyone who looked in his eyes and smiled with him. But as soon as we turned our backs to him or, perish the thought, walked out of the room, he would complain and soon break into tears. He needed to see a face to feel safe and content.  As his memory matured he was able to anticipate our return and wait for our faces to come back. He was able to hope.

When you can’t see God’s face, are you able to hope?

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For What?

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As spectator Paul Thompson drove away from the devastation at the Boston Marathon, a WSJ reporter approached him.

“For what? For what?” Thompson, a cardiologist, said through his tears.  “These people are totally innocent.”

Dr. Thompson speaks for us all. God created us to be morally reasoning beings, but this wanton violence defies reason, and our hearts break into lament. We are not alone. Continue reading →

Oh, Brother!

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Jesus grew up with at least four brothers and a few sisters. He was the oldest sibling in this typical Jewish family from Galilee.

If you have an older brother, as I do, you know this can be a mixed bag. An older brother watches out for you, but he also likes to tell you what to do. Can you imagine what it was like to grow up with a perfect older brother who never did anything wrong? What if he told you he was equal to God? That would be a problem.  It was a big problem for Jesus’ brother James.

Continue reading →

Grief and Love

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Christmas Eve morning started in West Webster, NY with a scenario familiar to first responders everywhere, with a scene familiar to my household. The scanner goes off, the emergency and address are announced, and firefighters slip out of warm beds to travel dark streets, putting themselves in danger for the sake of rescuing others.

But this Christmas Eve was tragically different. A home was fully engaged with fire. The firefighters were focused on their goal of searching for residents, saving lives. As the engine pulled up to the scene and they jumped off, they were met with gunfire. Four firefighters were hit. Two died.     

Tomasz Kaczowka, 19, died that morning. Continue reading →

“We’re Family”

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“We’re family.” I’m sure you’ve heard coaches and players say that when referring to their team. Mark Sanchez said that back in September after the Jets beat the Bills. But it’s March now, and there is not much of a Jets family left, leaving one to wonder how strong those family ties were anyway. You can’t have family without commitment.

Commitment like the kind Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy gave to Michael Oher. Michael is now a Super Bowl champion, but the Tuohys’ committed to him when he was a homeless kid trying to finish high school. You probably know about Michael’s story from the hit movie “The Blind Side.”  Michael’s birth mom struggled with crack addiction and was never able to give him a stable home. He moved from foster home to foster home until finally…… Continue reading →

Sunstone: Compass or Myth?

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I’m fascinated by the news reports about the discovery of a Viking sunstone. This crystal was found recently in the English Channel and fits the description in Norse tales of a stone that makes it possible to locate where the sun is, even when it is covered by clouds or snow, or has set below the horizon.  Before the invention of a reliable magnetic compass, this sunstone was a huge boon to navigating the seas.

Here is how it works…….. Continue reading →