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By Way of Introduction….

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I love to write.  Most of my stories come to me in the early hours of the morning, between the shadows of the moon and the rising of the sun, when the house is quiet and there is nothing pulling at me for my attention. I type a little and I retype a little.  I reword sentences and delete phrases but most of all I try to remember. 

I try to remember there can be tremendous significance in one life.  One life shared with another, one person to connect with another, one friend who sticks by you.  There is great significance in you and great significance in me because we are made in the image of God. It is when the two find each other that relationship takes place.  Intimacy is formed and humanity is strengthened.  

By faith I am a Greek Orthodox.  I converted to Orthodoxy over 27 years ago.  To me the relationship we develop through the tenets of our faith, lead us to the Divine in so many real and tangible ways; through the Liturgical services, the chanting, the reading and hearing of the Word, the structure by which we live our lives, culminating with the partaking of the precious Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.  The structure by which we live our lives through Orthodoxy provides us with moments of connection with the One who loves us more than life itself.  When those moments occur, I am always reminded of the Scripture that says “Who am I that you are mindful of me?”  Who am I?  I am His child, His Beloved, His bride, chosen by Him and deeply loved by Him.  Who am I? I am a sinner, stubborn, willful, given over to certain passions, scared and weak.  And yet He continues to call me by name.

I am a Marriage and Family Therapist by profession. I have worked in the field of abuse/trauma for the last 20 years and have worked with children, victims and the perpetrators of abuse. I have seen and bore witness to the most unspeakable acts of violence against children by people who are supposed to love them. It is difficult. However, it keeps me on my knees before the Throne of God.

 I have come to understand there is a synergy in our relationship with God.  God calls me, I respond and I am changed.   It is this mystical relationship that has a life of its own, that evolves and grows and changes the more we enter into it.  So, this is what I write about: these moments of connection, between God, myself and others. I am reminded of the Words of Jesus in His High Priestly prayer (John 17:21) “In order that all may be one, even as You, Father are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us.” and again (John 17:23) “I am in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected into one, and that the world may know that You sent Me forth and You love them even as You love me.”  This speaks to me of the giving, the receiving, and the giving back, the fluid-like aspect of our relationships.