Reflections from Our Directors

by Tom Allen On April 14, 2010, at the age of 57, my wife and I were told that she had young onset Alzheimer’s. We totally restructured our lives. Selling our home and moving into independent senior living Entering Julie into an adult day care program Leaving my...

by Kay Vander Vort Each of my four children are now in their 50-’s.  I chuckle (inwardly) when I see them squinting at photos on their I-Phones and scrambling for their “cheater” glasses.  I remember well how I delayed giving in to eye glasses convinced it was one...

by Barbara Leonard The book by Richard Rohr, Falling Upward: A Spirituality in the Two Halves of Life inspires a lot of discussion.  Father Rohr suggests that most of our western institutions are first half enterprises and this   includes the church, writ large. ...

by Melissa Borgmann-Kiemde “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him.” Matthew 2:13 I try to imagine what it is like to be an undocumented, employed immigrant,...

by Karen Treat Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.  Psalm 23: 4 As I write this I am coming up on Ash Wednesday. I made a very bold move and asked if I could preach this year.  On...

by Mary Noble Garcia We had just entered those months in Minnesota when there is hope for spring. Long before my alarm sounded, I awoke to an unusual noise coming through the windows, which had been shut tight against the cold.  I quickly got out of bed, put on a...

by Susanna Bertelsen On October 31, 2016, Pope Francis and Bishop Dr. Munib Yunan, president of the Lutheran World Federation, signed the joint declaration at the Cathedral in Lund, Sweden for continued work toward unity between the churches. Watching this during a...

by Carolyn Kolovitz Every mom reaches a point similar to the mom in Little Red Riding Hood. Sooner or later, we must send our child alone into the forest of adolescence. We can be present with them in spirit – loving them, modeling our values, warning them not to talk...

by Nancy Loyd Some may say I have a strange passion, for I am passionate about what our mortality can teach us about living.  I am fortunate to not only be a spiritual director with Loyola but also to work in hospice care. I believe that it is a blessed gift to work...