November 2020

November 30, 2020

Confession first, then repentance

By Bob Sitze

In Current Events, Lifework, Soul Searchings

November 30, 2020

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30November

This entry introduces a short series of occasional blogs that will appear during Advent. Over the centuries, Advent has been a time of expectant repentance—part of our preparation for Christ to come into our lives. Today we start at the beginning of that process—thinking about confession.   In my worship tradition, the liturgy begins with a signature invocation—“In the Name of the Father, the SonMORE...

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November 26, 2020

Thanks to you

By Bob Sitze

In Lifework, Relationships

November 26, 2020

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26November

We don’t talk much, you and I, but you’re always on my mind. Today I send you my thanks for being among those who pay attention to Full of Years, my blog for “differently spiritual older adults.” I started writing these entries over three years ago, with what I thought was a clear-headed notion: Some spiritually minded older adults may look at their lives—including the world around them—with anMORE...

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November 23, 2020

Thanksgiving expanded

By Bob Sitze

In Current Events, Lifestyle, Pleasure/Pain, Time, Words

November 23, 2020

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23November

In a few days, we will join together across the country to give thanks. We will remind ourselves and each other about all our reasons for gratitude. We will remember that all of life is a gift, undeserved and free. We will thank God, and be glad that we did. Sometimes it feels like that experience of gratitude doesn’t have a physical or emotional place to call home, a way to stick to my soulMORE...

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November 20, 2020

2020 Christmas newsletters?

By Bob Sitze

In Arcania, Current Events, Lifestyle, Relationships, Soul Searchings

November 20, 2020

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20November

  I don’t know about you, but this year’s family Christmas newsletter is going to be different. Really different!  I’ve already started thinking how I’m going to approach the usual task of pulling together recollections and observations about the past year. Finding just the right photos to emphasize some of that material.  I’m guessing that it’s not going to be easy for any of us who take upMORE...

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November 17, 2020

Thanksgiving observed

By Bob Sitze

In Current Events, Lifestyle, Lifework, Soul Searchings, Time

November 17, 2020

2 Min Read

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17November

The Thanksgiving holiday(s) will be here soon, with their usual invitations for hearty fellowship, feasting and shopping. But not this year. COVID has called into question any celebrations that involve perhaps-risky activities. This year many of us will observe this holiday season in unusual ways. We may feel that if we can’t do what we’ve always done, something must be wrong. That we don’tMORE...

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November 13, 2020

He whose name must (not) be spoken

By Bob Sitze

In Arcania, Current Events, Soul Searchings, Words

November 13, 2020

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13November

Throughout history, there have been names whose very utterance was ill-advised or even dangerous. Either the names were holy and ineffable—beyond our right or ability to speak them—or so despicable that the mere sound of the name might recall unmentionable evil. (In the first case, think YAWEH or Mohammed. In the second case, remember names like the fictional Lord Voldemort, Adolf Hitler or DearMORE...

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November 10, 2020

A COVID Advent

By Bob Sitze

In Current Events, Death/Dying, Lifestyle, Mind/Body

November 10, 2020

2 Min Read

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10November

Advent will soon be peeking out from our calendars. This time around, Advent will be observed in the middle of a worldwide epidemic. It’s possible, though, that these four weeks could be helpful for our spirits. COVID-19 is called a coronavirus because its cells’ club-shaped projections resemble the tines of a crown. During this past Lent, this crown-mimicry recalled the thorned-garland crushedMORE...

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November 5, 2020

Clean air!

By Bob Sitze

In Current Events, Mind/Body, Soul Searchings, Words

November 5, 2020

2 Min Read

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05November

Over the past four years I have grown weary, seeing how our nation has been breathing a kind of spiritual/emotional air pollution. We’ve been inhaling a smog of toxic attitudes that may have slowly destroyed our spirits. With the results of this election now becoming apparent, it feels like the Spirit’s wind has blown away the pollutants so that we can breathe clean air again. The metaphor makesMORE...

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November 2, 2020

I really (don’t) know!

By Bob Sitze

In Current Events, Soul Searchings

November 2, 2020

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02November

After all these years, you’d think I know a lot. All my life experiences, all the training, all the reading and writing, all the interactions with people in the know—you’d think that would give me a leg up on this “knowing” thing. I’ve wished for some assurance about what’s true right now, but too many of the polls, algorithms, pundits and editorials aren’t reliable. There’s too much to know, andMORE...

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