Friends in Faith: Deborah Elliott-Upton

It was a hot west Texas day in Amarillo, and I was going to be teaching at a writers’ conference. I came in a day earlier to “play” with a writer friend, Deborah Elliott-Upton, who I’d met a couple years earlier at the same conference. We had hit it off right away the first time,… Continue reading Friends in Faith: Deborah Elliott-Upton

On the Nightstand: Jesuit and Franciscan Spirituality

The past few weeks have been crazy busy for me. So I’m grateful my friend Caroline Lawry gifted me Hearts on Fire: Praying with Jesuits. It’s a lovely collection of dozens of prayers, none more than a page long. It’s helped keep me remember faith is more important than any of the world’s noise. I’ll… Continue reading On the Nightstand: Jesuit and Franciscan Spirituality

On the Nightstand: Becoming an Ordinary Mystic

One day a few weeks back, this book by Father Albert Haase showed up at my place. I knew I hadn’t ordered it, and there was no gift tag in the box. The state where I live has a law that if you get something you didn’t order, it’s yours. I told my Bible study… Continue reading On the Nightstand: Becoming an Ordinary Mystic

On the Nightstand: Redeemed (Again)

In addition to being sisters in Christ, Pam Spano and I are sister fan girls of Heather King, who has described herself as an ex-attorney, recovering alcoholic Catholic convert (and who I think is among the best memoirists writing today). So when Pam messaged me the top cover of Redeemed: Stumbling Toward God, Sanity, and… Continue reading On the Nightstand: Redeemed (Again)