T’was two weeks afore Christmas and all through Eff Bee not a creature was stirring – not a they, he, or she We were frozen in place – old traditions wiped out – finding it hard to remember what it all was about
There’d be no parties this year; no off-line celebrations (some of us contemplated months-long hibernations) Some of us would be zooming, others face-timing (those of us without working mics would be doing some miming)
There were still cookies to bake and gifts to send out but this year we’d be masked-up as we moved about Gone were the handshakes, the hugs, and side kisses – replaced with tapping elbows as we went about our business
And as we forged on – made what we could of twenty-twenty – we began to unfreeze and realize there was still plenty of beauty all around us – joy and peace and kindness We saw that gratitude brings us Christmas and Love it is that binds us -Karen Molenaar Terrell
I came upon two earthworms on the sidewalk today – their noses suspended in the air, frozen by the heat of the sun – dried out and stiff and I reached down and plucked up the first and carried him to the dirt. I dug a little hole for him and covered him with earth – a grave to bring him back to life. Gently I used my fingers as tweezers and pulled the second worm from the sidewalk and lifted him to the moist soil, laid him down, and covered him with a wet leaf. Fare thee well, my new friends – May you revive and spend the rest of your days happily leaving a trail of rich earth in your wake
I am also the author of The Madcap Christian Scientist series. The first book in the series, Blessings: Adventures of a Madcap Christian Scientist, has 33 reviews and 4.7 stars! Here’s the beginning: : Years ago an old boyfriend said to me, “I can’t see that Christian Science has made you any better than anyone else.”
“I know!” I said, nodding my head in complete and happy agreement, “But can you imagine what I’d be like without it?!”
He raised his eyebrows and laughed. What could he say? He was looking at a self-centered, moralistic, stubborn idealist who saw everything in terms of black and white. But I could have been worse. I believe without Christian Science I would have been worse.
Let’s get one thing clear from the start: I am not the best example of a Christian Scientist. I’m not as disciplined as I could be. I have fears and worries and doubts. I’m a little neurotic. I am the Lucy Ricardo of Christian Scientists…
At the age of 51 I went insane. I did not like it so much. But I learned a lot from it…
If somebody had tried to talk to me about mental illness before I’d had this experience, I wouldn’t have had a clue what they were going on about. Mental illness was something that happened to “other” people. Mental illness was not something a madcap Christian Scientist would ever know anything about, right?
Two years ago I would never have been able to guess where I’d be today, what I’d be doing, and what new people I would be calling my friends and colleagues. Two years ago my youngest son was close to graduating from high school, my 20-year career as a public school teacher was winding down, and I was looking for a new job and a new purpose to fill my days. Two years ago I was starting over.
It was scary. It was exhilarating. It was absolutely awesome! *** To find any of these books you can go to my Amazon Author Page.
The fourth Thanksgiving without Moz at our table, the first without Dad and the first without a turkey – we went vegan this year. We forged ahead, making it up as we went – creating new traditions: a yellow and red pepper dish; a bowl of mushrooms sauteed in olive oil – which we used as our gravy on the mashed potatoes; Broccoli steamed to a brilliant green; and orange squash made for a colorful plate. I was yearning for something old to bring to the feast – something from the past – and remembered Aunt Junie’s dishes with the blue flowers around the outside. Scott reached up and pulled them from the top shelf for me and put them on the table. Much looks different this year. But this hasn’t changed: Love is still here. -Karen Molenaar Terrell
Up before dawn, enveloped in the dark, in the bubble of my car, as I drive over country roads, listening to Mindy Jostyn sing “Morning Song”and I feel God with me. Not as a corporeal being. Not as a Matter-being. Not just as Moz or Dad – but as the power and presence of all the collective Love of the Cosmos. Loving me. Wishing me into a new day.
It’s a miracle of perfection. I am warm and fed and I can hear my loved one tapping the keys on his laptop and clearing his throat near me I have chamomile tea with cream and a chunk of sourdough bread and the wind is moving the rain-splattered screen on the window and making the lights behind it look like they’re dancing I feel no pain or fear I know I’m completely safe and I imagine coming through some terrible danger and finding myself in this room and what a miracle that would seem to be and how much I’d appreciate the simple unremarkable perfection of it and I am filled with gratitude – Karen Molenaar Terrell
Can’t reason with delusion; can’t reason with error Can’t reason with illusion; can’t reason with terror Just love, love, love We’ve all of us been there; we’ve ALL been insane This time it’s OUR turn to heal someone ELSE’s pain Just love, love, love The battle’s already won – that’s the deal No need to respond to a lie as if it’s real Just love, love, love Don’t respond with hate, or anger or fear Give nothing for the rage to bounce off of – ‘cept a cushy wall of kindness and cheer Just love, love, love – Karen Molenaar Terrell
I’m no one’s competition anymore – and I’m so grateful I’ve moved past that. Any youth and beauty I might have had before brought me into a rivalry I was never good at. Now I’m just a happy old bat! -Karen Molenaar Terrell
“As the physical and material, the transient sense of beauty fades, the radiance of Spirit should dawn upon the enraptured sense with bright and imperishable glories.” – Mary Baker Eddy
Sitting in a camp chair on the back deck in the sunshine, I open my eyes and see the answers to my “When will I ever…?” questions: “When will I ever find my love?” And there sits my beloved partner of 36 years. “When will we ever have children?” And there sits the youngest son, eating lunch. “When will we ever own our own home?” And I look down at the deck beneath my chair, attached to our house at my back. “When will we ever have another cat?” And there’s Clara Rose with her nose between the slats of the deck, looking out on our field of autumn auburn trees. I am sitting on a deck full of blessings. -Karen Molenaar Terrell
“…let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” – James 1:4
“To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is big with blessings.” – Mary Baker Eddy
I love gold stripes on the road in autumn as my window wiper wipes raindrops off my windshield or the sun shines through the leaves making them look like stained glass set in a blue sky . – Karen Molenaar Terrell
Adventures of the Madcap Christian Scientist 