By Sherrie Cassel Prior to a 2024 survey conducted by the Pew Foundation1, there was a decline in those who identify as Christian and/or religious; the trend appears to be stabilizing, very little growth, but no further decline either. The Pew research anticipates a decline in the coming years as those who identify as ChristianContinue reading “When Tribes Gather”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Is it necessary to forgive — even posthumously?
By Sherrie Cassel Mom would be eighty-four today. I miss her so very much. We drove each other crazy — often; this is common in dysfunctional families, but…we loved each other fiercely; it’s called trauma bonding. Mom always liked to be the first person to call each of her children on his or her respectiveContinue reading “Is it necessary to forgive — even posthumously?”
Emily Dickinson
by Sherrie Cassel The psychedelic lights undulate on my office ceiling. Springsteen is lightly playing his harmonica, and I am grateful…a sixty-three-year-old hippie wannabe. I wasn’t old enough to be truly aware of the bombs bursting in midair. What does it mean to “lose someone in the war” when you’re only five years old? I’veContinue reading “Emily Dickinson”
Coming Clean
By Sherrie Cassel I’m a liar. I am. I lie to myself and so, I lie to others too. Or … do I? Do I really? Ahhh, the curse of the double minded, right and left-brained, ENTJ, bipolar, Geminian mooned, Scorpio rising, Christian, Mystic, theist, non-theist, dualistic, divided, synthesized, religious, spiritual, whew, I’m tired fromContinue reading “Coming Clean”
Patterns of Imperfection
By Sherrie Cassel Triggers that awaken fears, mourning, rage, despair can be anything, really. Tonight, I was looking through a kaleidoscope, watching the patterns transform into fragments of uniquely and perfectly placed shapes and colors. I could never draw a perfect circle (for me). Even with the protractor, the spot where the pencil marks meetContinue reading “Patterns of Imperfection”
A time to mourn and a time to dance …
By Sherrie Cassel I’ve wanted to know what’s on the bottom of the ocean floor for most of my life, you know, to plumb the depths of the unknown, like Jacques Costeau. Every single day I rise from our bed, wipe the sleep from my eyes, stretch, and greet the day, is another opportunity toContinue reading “A time to mourn and a time to dance …”
Lazarus and Reality
By Sherrie Cassel I’m in MX for a week and some change visiting my younger brother and his senior dog. He won’t let me lift a finger, so it truly is a vacation of being pampered. It’s nice. I don’t interview for the doctoral program until next month, so I’m reading everything I can getContinue reading “Lazarus and Reality”
Whatever Gets You through the Night
By Sherrie Cassel Joshua Tree, California I’m making corrections for the revision of my book. It’s a mess, reflective of where my head and heart were at the first writing – lots of typos, blank pages, alignment issues, over-exposure. I just wanted it out there in the world. Initially and in retrospect, I needed toContinue reading “Whatever Gets You through the Night”
Druthers
By Sherrie Cassel I hear it; it tinkles like ice in your glass, like broken glass. The sound of shattering people is the earworm that makes me wish I were deaf. ******** Ah, but then … who will hold the sound of our dissonant collaboration, and for how long? ******** Some stories don’t need toContinue reading “Druthers”
Song Choice
By Sherrie Cassel There is a bird, brightly colored; it always has a lilt in her chirp, which I interpret from my hedonistic brain as a sense of joy. The lacrimose mountain tanager’s name means sorrowful or tearful, despite her happy tune. The theory of how she got her name, it is suggested, may beContinue reading “Song Choice”
Grief to Gratitude 