Joyce Shutt

It’s a rainy, dismal winter day, a day to stay inside.  Time for some serious gratitude work.  I went to the senior’s exercise class at our local fire hall this morning and discovered I am woefully out of shape.  I am committed to going  at least twice a week as I am aware of how

I am so grateful that I am past the frenetic activity surrounding Christmas.  I will put up a few decorations and lights, but that is it.  No gifts to buy or wrap, no big meals to prepare, no parties to attend. My husband and I opted out of gift-giving years ago and chose instead to

It’s difficult for me to believe that man was created in the image of God, given our history over time. Even the Bible is filled with accounts of our failures to live up to God’s expectations.  We are, by and large, a selfish, cruel, and violent species, and the more civilized we are, the more

I can easily become distraught when I think about the ways many of our conservative brothers are playing the role of the morality police, emulating many of the ideas and practices we criticize in countries such as Iran, which base their society on Sharia law.  I often find myself staring into space, my mind wandering.

 One of the joys of being older is the time we have to spend with friends.  By the time we reach this stage of life, most of us have gotten over caring about how we look, what we wear, what we’ve done, etc.  It just feels good to spend time with those we’ve come to

 Last evening, my daughter and I snuggled down on the sofa and binge-watched one of the Masterpiece series.  After she went home, I continued watching a series on climate change…one of those scientific studies that scare the bejeebers out of you yet gives you hope.  One thing is clear.  Despite computer projections, no one really

 It was quite a weekend.  Three of us went to the The Ten Thousand Villages reunion held in Akron,Pa..  For those of you who are unfamiliar with Ten Thousand Villages, it is one of the largest Fair Trade Organizations in the world.  They carry  everything from tea and chocolate to Oriental rugs.  At one time

Waiting for the furnace man to check the system and switch things from air conditioning to heat, I grabbed my Kindle for something to do and opened a book titled The Echo of Old Books. Just a few pages in, I read, “Books are feelings. They exist to make us feel, to connect us to what

For years, I walked alone and found it a positive experience.  It was as much a walking meditation as exercise, but two years ago, I began walking with what I’ll call an acquaintance.  We knew each other and enjoyed each other, but we really didn’t know each other. That quickly changed as we began walking

 I woke rested and grateful for a good night’s sleep.  Unless you are like me and have sleep issues, sleeping is one of those things we simply take for granted.  There are so many things like that.  I simply took it for granted that the car would start until I got in my car in

Last evening, my daughter and I went for a walk.  Trump signs and flags have been continuously appearing.  One neighbor even put up a full-sized picture of Trump on their front door.  Once again, I find myself wondering why churchgoers have so much faith in a man who has proved himself to be so untrustworthy,

 Meaning and purpose.  We all need to have something that gives meaning to our lives.  Both my husband and I were doers in our active lives. Even though he was terribly crippled with rheumatoid arthritis, he found his purpose as an accountant.  He served as the bookkeeper/treasurer for many organizations and did taxes for friends

It’s a beautiful September morning.  The weather has been absolutely amazing.  Warm sunny days and cool nights.  I turned the air conditioner off in late August, and my ventilation system has become open windows. There’s something about sleeping with the windows open that feels wonderful.  As the night cools down the deeper I snuggle into

My friend is a fabric artist.  I like to piece quilts, but my quilts are pretty simple and amateurish compared to hers.  Some of her wall hangings and quilts are so astounding they leave me breathless, not with jealousy, but admiration and pride in her achievements.  Over the years, I’ve learned to know myself and

Self Pity and gratitude do not make good bedfellows.  They are opposites, two perspectives that are pitted against each other.  Both are valid, but each leads to far different results.  Finding the balance between acceptance of one’s limitations and self-pity is one of the major challenges of aging, for as our bodies fail us while

My nest is empty again.  Our son from Montana came to visit this week.  What a wonderful and relaxed visit.  Even so, we got most of the windows and curtains washed and new blinds put up.  It’s amazing how fresh and clean things look.   I’m trying to come up with something profound to compare

I ran away for the weekend with a daughter and a friend.  It was wonderful getting away and spending quality time with these two fantastic women.  I sometimes feel sorry for men who seem less able to form these kinds of close ties with other men.  I know my husband often commented on the bevy

After over 6 weeks of devastating drought we had a good soaking rain.  One friend said they had over 4 inches in their rain gauge. Fortunately, it didn’t all at once.  Much was a slower, gentler, soaking rain, but make no mistake, streams were flooding, and the ground squished when we walked because the ground

 Most of our problems, I’ve come to realize, exist in our heads.  It’s not that challenges don’t exist. They do, and some are really serious, but it’s the spin we put on them that causes us pain and suffering.  My sleep issues, for example.  I recently read that we need a good 8 hours of

Last week we’d have celebrated our 65th wedding anniversary.  The day passed quietly, but since then, I’ve been thinking about him and what a gentle, caring man he was.  I often blamed him for not being more romantic,  but looking back I f wonder how much of the fault was my own, because I didn’t

Soon after I fed the birds this morning, the phone rang.  Roman Manuel has arrived, our 8th great-grand!  7 lbs plus with a head of long black hair.  He has all his fingers and toes, as his proud grandmother announced, and what more could we ask for but a healthy baby?  But 8 great-grandchildren?  How

I’ve asked my friend to play and sing one of her evangelical praise songs for  Sunday’s service.  It’s a fun, bouncy song, and I think joy should be part of a worship service.  But I’ve also been thinking about the words,  the sacrifice of praise.  Why should our our praise and gratitude be a sacrifice?

I woke earlier than usual this morning, treating myself to breakfast with a book on the patio before taking my walk.  By the time I got back from walking, it was hot, but my walk was saved by a delicious breeze; I’ll be inside for the rest of the day as there is a heat

Procrastination is my middle name.  I’m a real pro at procrastinating.  I’m almost as good as my husband, who used to claim that he’d procrastinate if he could just find the time to get around to it.  Our habits seem to have this way of digging deep into our psyches.  In fact, some become so

I’ve had writer’s block since coming home from the hospital. I sit down to write, and my mind goes blank.  I get up to do something else, hoping that changing the scene will make a difference, but to no avail. Generally, such periods are short-lived lived, but this has been going on for several weeks.

 I ate breakfast on our patio this morning.   Being in the shade, the patio escapes much of the hot sun until mid-afternoon.  I’m not sure why I don’t sit out there more often, as it’s delightful.  I can look at the houses marching up the street, watch the breezes tickle the tree leaves, and

Jesus is known for some hard sayings, but one of the hardest is  “Don’t worry.  Have no anxiety about anything.”  If you are anything like me,  that’s easier said than done.  While I’m getting better at letting go, I still have a ways to go, so when I get stuck in a worry rut, I

One of the unspoken realities of any serious illness is fear.  Fear of dying,  Fear of being helpless.  Fear of the unknown.   Fear of not getting better.  Fear of pain.   Even when we convince ourselves that we are not afraid, fear lurks in the dark corners of our minds.  It burrows into the recesses of

Courage is fear saying its prayers.  We tend to think of courage as the absence of fear, the empowerment of conviction, bravery, etc.  But real courage is acting in the face of fear, taking a stand when overcome with fear..  It takes courage to confront our addictions when our addictions have so completely taken our

Confronting reality, I’m rereading Louise Penny’s novels, and I just finished A Trick of the Light.  I found this one especially interesting as the plot addresses a basic question. “Can people change?” and weaves together information about the art world and AA and partially answers the question, “Can people change?”.  At one point in the

Expectations.   Expectations are good.  Expectations keep us motivated and growing.  Expectations keep us from settling for less than we deserve.  With one caveat.  We dare not become too invested in the ultimate outcome of our expectations.  It’s one thing to have expectations; it’s another thing to get angry when things work out differently than

Acceptance opens the door to almost everything in life.  So much of our suffering stems from our refusal to accept what already is…not as fatalism and apathy… but as an opportunity for change.  That’s why Step One of the 12 steps states: “admitted we are powerless over drugs and alcohol (insert your current situation or

 Just back from a trip South to visit family, I find my inbox filled with questions as to why I’ve stopped blogging.  I haven’t stopped;  I just took some time off to rest and relax in the arms of my family.  Interestingly enough, one of our many topics of conversation was gratitude!  It seems that

It’s raining and cold, a good day to practice gratitude.  These are the days I am aware of those who are homeless, those living in shelters or motel rooms, and those who do not experience the same benefits I do.  Gratitude is not a replacement for helping others, but gratitude opens the door to all

Our daughter is getting solar panels installed on her roof today.  I wish I could put solar panels on my roof, but that’s against our association’s rules.  My response to their “no” is helping our daughter put solar panels on hers.  Once again, I was reminded that it’s not necessarily the big things that bring

The washing machine isn’t working.  The tub is full of water and wet clothes, but the agitator refuses to agitate.  This happened several years ago.  “Unplug it,” my husband said,  “Let it reset.”   So, that’s what I’ve done.   I’m hoping for the best,  as I just bought a new dishwasher last week.  It, too, had

We went to see Origins yesterday – which I am still trying to process.  It’s so easy to automatically assume that everyone’s experience is similar to ours, but for many,  their world looks very different from mine as a middle-class white woman.  In fact, it’s almost impossible for me to imagine what life is like

Last evening, my daughter and I watched the documentary “My Octopus Teacher.”   What an amazing experience.  As a result, I’ve been thinking about all of the ways we humans mistreat our environment and the ways we have chosen to misrepresent the Genesis passage by claiming that God instructed us to dominate, use, and misuse

Age comes with its pluses and minuses.  So far, I have far more in the plus column than in the minus side, I’m happy to report.  Having practiced gratitude for many years, I can usually find something positive in every experience, but that doesn’t mean I don’t struggle at times.  Having been an avid reader

We have far more control over our thoughts and feelings than we may want to admit.  Granted, life has this way of taking over our thoughts,  but we can teach ourselves to respond differently if we are willing to do the work of reprogramming our brains.  After all, it is not what happens that deeply

As life speeds by me in my geriatric slow lane,  I am grateful to have old and trusted companions to come along with me.  I’m still walking most days.  I still do my own light housework.  I still sew and hand quilt, though some blocks’ corners don’t quite jibe as well as they once did.

It’s the start of a new year.  I haven’t made any new resolutions as I have enough left over from the past.  You know, the generic resolutions that never go out of date. Walk more.  Eat better.  Get more sleep. Practice gratitude.  Do at least one good deed per day.  Be more accepting, more generous. 

This past week I wrote several blogs about Christmas movies.  Evenings when I am home alone I often quilt and watch TV.  So many of our TV programs glorify the worst of humanity, the darkness, hate, fear, and anxiety that is so prevalent everywhere.  Christmas movies make a nice change from who done-its, even if

There was a time when I thought I had to think big when making my life bucket list,  but no more.  Now, my bucket list is made up of those little things that I had previously thought I was too busy to do . . like ringing the bell for the Salvation Army.  The other

 We humans don’t do well with pain and discomfort…hence many of our God questions.  After all, our greatest questions center around the issues of pain, evil, and suffering.  But when read without all the decorations, soft music, and tinsel, these are the things that define the Christmas story.  Come Christmas Eve, many of us will

The older I get, the more I seem to fall into a daily routine.  Get up, get dressed, make coffee, and read…generally meditational reading, which often inspires me when it’s time to blog.  Sometimes, I blog before walking, but most times, my friend and I walk before I settle in for my second mediational period

Jesus tells the story of the woman who lost one of her dowry coins and turns her house upside down to find it.  When she finally discovers it, she goes to all of her friends and neighbors to share her joy in finding the lost coin.  Yesterday was a beautiful,  clear,  crisp Central Pa. morning. 

I worked at the polls last week. Because so few people are volunteering these days, we had the bare minimum working in our precinct,  but ours is a small one,  so it wasn’t a problem.  It was a long day, however.  We worked from 6 am to after 9 pm before we were able to

A  Buddhist teaching says that what causes suffering in life is the general pattern of how we relate with others – as in envy toward those above, competitiveness toward those who are equals, and contempt for anyone below us.  It is so easy to blame the victims of life.  It’s been said that if you

I awoke eager to start my day.  After making my first cup of coffee I sat down, made a to-do list for today, then settled in with the morning paper.   Still no Speaker of the House given the insanity of the MAGA maniacs.  A mass shooting in Maine.  What is happening to our beloved country?

Reading in The Book of Joy this morning, the chapter was about fear, how it is a natural response but also how we can better respond to our fears so they do not control us.  As I read,  I found myself thinking about a friend who is dealing with terminal cancer.  She’s reached the point

Last evening I discovered a series on Acorn called The Dry.  It is about an alcoholic woman who tries to stay sober in Dublin, Ireland, while surrounded by a hard-drinking family and friends.  As she struggles to maintain her sobriety, her sponsor is this hard-as-nails, no-nonsense woman who constantly hammers away at the importance of

Another beautiful day in South Central PA, the kind of Indian summer weather that draws one outdoors and invites happy thoughts and spontaneous bursts of gratitude!   Even so, I struggle to stay focused on this present moment.  Perhaps it’s as someone once observed, “Growth means change, and change involves risk, stepping from the known to

Addiction is a physical, psychological, and spiritual disease that is as deadly as cancer, heart disease, or diabetes.  Addictions create devastating emotional, spiritual, and physical traumas that can lead to intense suffering and death. Yet, until we are willing to admit that we, as a nation, are addicted to power, greed, and control,  our democratic

It was one of those mornings when everything I tried to do required an extra step or needed something I didn’t have.  Instead of getting overly upset (it was tempting, as an occasional pity party can be satisfying), I went for my gratitude box.  The first card I picked up read:  “Give thanks for unknown

Step 9 is all about making amends (forgiveness), but before we can make amends (forgive)in a meaningful way, we have to work our way through steps 6,7 and 8. It is rarely appropriate to do something or take a stand without doing our necessary preparatory work.  We not only have to become willing to work

Deep into another WWII novel and Jim Wallis’ Christ in Crisis, I experienced a spontaneous burst of gratitude this morning.  With fall in the wings,  the nights are cooling down.  The daylight hours are growing noticeably shorter,  and this morning, there is a nip in the air.  Since my friend called to say she couldn’t walk,

It feels like fall this morning; still pleasantly warm, but there’s a different feel to the air.  The seasons are slowly changing.  August will soon be over.  Kids are back in school.  Buses add minutes to morning and afternoon commutes.    I’m so grateful Mother Nature is trying to keep us on schedule.  I grieve for

Bishop Curry says in the appendix of Love Is The Way, “So much of what is happening in the world does not look like love.  If we go through life letting external forces – our news feeds, our acquaintances, our Google calendar – determine how our days are spent and our contributions measured, we know

 We said goodbye to Ruthie on Saturday.  Such a joyous memorial service filled with joyful black music, stories,  and laughter!   Ruthie joined our family in 1969 as a confused and suicidal teenager, angry at the world and life.  Over the years, she entered and reentered our lives, sometimes being affectionate and loving, others angry

 I came back from Physical Therapy hungry and tired.  A cup of coffee and two pieces of toast later, I sat down to blog.  Not feeling inspired,  I grabbed an Al-Anon meditation book and read five different entries.  Interestingly enough, they are all related to assuming responsibility for our own thoughts and actions rather than

I didn’t have enough time to really start something before I went to PT, so I grabbed Bishop Curry’s book Love Is the Way and read:  “You can be intentional about the stories you tell as well in the stories you consume.  Examine which stories are taking your time and attention.  If you’re only getting

Sunday, sang several songs/hymns that have had a lot of meaning for me, among them “It Only Takes A Spark.”  All afternoon, the tune and words ran through my mind, reminding me that it only takes a spark to make a difference in so many areas of life.  Kindness, you see, is contagious.  So is

We hear a lot about mindfulness these days.  I’m not really sure what that means, but it reminds me of the program’s emphasis on living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time.  I also understand it is finding ways to turn off my monkey brains and becoming aware of what’s around

There are those books that you simply can’t put down until you get to the ending, Louise Penny’s novels, for instance. Then there are those books that are so meaty that you can only digest a few pages at a time.  Last evening I sat down with Bishop Curry.  If this black man can speak

Today is a day for gratitude.  Following morning worship yesterday, we came home and got lunch. When I opened the freezer to get ice cream for dessert, I discovered everything was partially thawed. The fridge had died!  What followed was a mad scramble to rescue as much food as possible. Fortunately, I had a partially

 A number of my recent blogs have asked the question, “What’s the point of even trying when the whole world seems to be spinning out of control?”  Consequently, I should not have been surprised to have Bishop Curry speak to these issues when I sat down to read Love is the Way.   Instead of

My musical friend was talking about the songs she loves, which made me aware of the limits language puts on our reactions and perceptions of life.  While English has only one word for love, other languages may have a variety of words to describe a wide range of feelings, reactions,  and understandings that we lump

“The point isn’t to make a fortune.  The point is to know what’s enough.  To be happy.” says one of the characters in Louise Penny’s The Brutal Telling.  I suspect we all recognize the wisdom in that statement, but how many of us are willing to really discern when our enough is enough and then act on