Posts by Colette Lafia

Today as I write this post, my 92-year old mother is facing hip surgery. She fell last week and ended up in the hospital with excruciating pain. The outcome is undetermined: whether she’ll make it through the surgery; and if she does, whether the surgery will even be successful. When I spoke to her last night on the…

Wednesday Wisdom: Live By a Few Simple Principles. I remember what the late Matthew Kelty, a trappist monk at the Abbey of Gethsemani, once said in one of his evening talks while I was on a retreat at the monastery. “Live by a few simple principles.” I have reflected on this many times, and I pause and…

Wednesday Wisdom. Love Heals. I just spent Labor Day weekend with my 92-year old mother in Palm Springs. Just the two of us. I am grateful that she is relatively well, and still lives in her own home with the daily care of people in the mornings to give her a shower, and help her prepare for the…

Wednesday Wisdom. Listen to the Sound of the Bells. I have always been drawn to the sound of church bells, to their ancient sound, to the way their ringing penetrates the air and settles in my heart. When I hear the tolling of these bells, I feel my entire being shaken; and I hear an invitation…

  Wednesday Wisdom: 10 Ways to Practice Surrender Today. I am asking for God to teach me to detach from my situation at work—in this case the details don’t really matter. How am I seeking a larger, deeper, and more compassionate way of seeing through every situation? I return to surrender, for the grace to accept the now. I remember that we…

Wednesday Wisdom: Love is a Source of Energy. What if sharing love wasn’t based on how we were feeling, but based on a daily, intentional commitment to love? There are many moments in a day when we just don’t feel good for various reasons–fatigue, stress, worry, anger, and more–and in those moments, we tend to constrict…