by Sheila Graham Smith | Jun 18, 2019 | Meditation
An old gospel chorus is buzzing in my ears today reminding me that even when I do feel lonely, God’s assurances state otherwise. The chorus goes, “No, never alone, no never alone. He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone.”
In the hope drenched dewy spring morning, when I’m confronted with the birds and bees exuberantly all-a-flutter doing their thing, I sometimes experience the opposite. I instead feel a sharp stab of being an outsider, alone with chronic pain, not belonging to the riotous activities surrounding me.
by Sheila Graham Smith | Jun 11, 2019 | Meditation
I was flipping through some old journal writings and came across an entry I had written after visiting my mom in 2014 in her assisted living apartment. She had been legally blind for at least a decade, so bringing a new person to visit presented a challenge. As usual, she faced and leaped over that hurdle.
by Sheila Graham Smith | Jun 4, 2019 | Meditation
I started my doctoral studies in Curriculum and Instruction because I wanted to understand why our education system purges out students with disabilities from participating in post-secondary education. Their dreams of succeeding in college were being censored by a society that would prefer that they remain in the background. My students inspired me to chart a path for them through my doctoral studies, a path tailored for their advocacy.
by Sheila Graham Smith | May 28, 2019 | Meditation
Can you remember what you got in trouble for the most as a child? In other words, what did your parents emphasize as the worst possible thing you could do? With me, it was lying. Telling the truth was expected and punishment came easier if I confessed and repented first.
by Sheila Graham Smith | May 21, 2019 | Meditation
I was digging in my garden as usual one morning, when my tomcat brought me a present, a young cardinal clenched firmly in his mouth. He dropped it at my feet and to my astonishment, it hopped up with an unearthly ear splitting screech! I quickly yet gently scooped the bird up and placed it high up in a tree where I watched it stutter and start, stutter again, and fly away.
by Sheila Graham Smith | May 14, 2019 | Meditation
I’m working on absorbing a powerful testimony I heard given by a friend of mine with whom I’ve traveled through life for the past twenty years. As we sat in our pews listening, she volleyed one family trial after another onto our side of the congregational court:
