driving to the comforts of home imagining a warm fire in the woodstove a cat curled in my lap and a pie in the oven I know there is love waiting for me in my home
and then I feel a grin come to my face as I realize that I don’t have to wait to get to a house to feel a home
like a turtle carries his home on his back I carry my home in my thoughts – Karen Molenaar Terrell
“Home is the consciousness of good That holds us in its wide embrace The steady light that comforts us In every path our footsteps trace.” – Rosemary C. Cobham, Christian Science Hymnal #497
T’was the day after Christmas and all o’er the earth people were waking to find there still seemed a dearth of peace on our earth and to all good will – we wondered if the promises would ever be fulfilled.
And then a someone shouted, “Hey! I have a thought! Let’s celebrate Christmas every day – let’s celebrate a lot! Let’s keep kindness and sharing alive in our hearts – not just at Christmas, but in all the year’s parts!”
And we thought this was wise, and we thought this was good, so we celebrated kindness all over our earth’s ‘hood. -Karen Molenaar Terrell
I’m deep in sleep and suddenly there’s a voice right outside my window, insistent. “Hello? Hellooo?!”
And I wake. But I’m on the second floor and, unless someone’s on a ladder, no one is right outside my window. Someone was calling for help in my dreams.
I’m groggy, but waking now. The world is calling for help. “Hello? Hellooo?!”
It’s a humble holiday, tucked in between Christmas and New Year’s, but it’s really keen. Things look a little bedraggled, it’s true The tree’s a little droopy and no longer new
The movies and music of the Christmas season Are getting on our nerves now, and we’re seeing no reason To eat even one more sugary oversweet sweet It’s time for broccoli and carrots (maybe hold on the beets)
The pressure for perfection comes off on this day, the toys have been opened, and it’s come time to play. And if before we were wearing faux holiday cheer to blend in with the others and not Scroogey appear
It’s time now to be genuine, and honest and real. The food banks are empty, people still need a warm meal. The homeless and hungry and jobless and alone still need love and care, still need a home.
So maybe we can celebrate the day after Christmas by keeping the spirit of hope alive, we might make that our business. – Karen Molenaar Terrell, from *A Poem Lives on My Windowsill*
I look around the table and see bountiful blessings there is a vegan feast here and family and love and I have a flashback to forty years ago before marriage before the sons before the daughters-in-law before Clara Cat and Sparky and for a moment I am in awe of the bounty of today
Christmas isn’t hiding in the tree. Christmas isn’t hiding in the lights. Christmas isn’t hiding in what we see. We don’t see Christmas through our eyesight.
And it’s not hidden in rhyme – which rhymes with time, dime, climb, clime, lime, thyme, mime…
Is Christmas hidden in the past when Mom and Dad were still here and the sons were little and scampering around in their footy pajamas and waiting for Santa?
Is it hidden in the office Christmas parties? The community caroling, the tree-lighting, the Christmas sales? The Christmas cookies, gift-wrapping, Hallmark movies?
Breaking News: I just found it! And you know where it was? It was inside ME all along! And I just needed to be still and listen to hear its song.
T’was two weeks afore Christmas and all through Eff Bee not a creature was stirring – not a they, she, or he. We were prostrate and spent from the holiday bustle not a twitch could be seen from the teeniest muscle.
We lay all unblinking in our respective beds while visions of gift-wrapping swirled through our heads. And clad in our jammies and our way cool madcaps we had the vague hopeful hope our bodies would take naps.
Holiday jangles and jingles pinged through our brains – Presley, Crosby, and Mathis taking us down memory lanes – and would we remember every member to be gifted? We mentally went through our lists, hoping none were omitted.
There were homes to be decorated and cards to be sent; parties, caroling, and cookie-making, and we hadn’t made a dent. But with a collective sigh we remembered there and then that it’s really about good will to all creatures – every they, her, and him.
And so our thoughts finally settled and our bodies relaxed as we thought of those we love and a world festooned in pax. With our hearts wrapped in kindness and the world as our ‘hood We’re all brethren and sistren – and verily, It’s all good! – Karen Molenaar Terrell, The Madcap Christian Scientist’s Christmas Book
This morning I woke up with this verse in my head: “He will perfect that which concerneth thee.” I’m pretty sure I was giving myself a Christian Science treatment in my sleep. 😀
I wake enfolded in divine Love’s arms. Loved, cherished, protected, safe – a perfect and complete note in Her song. Father-Mother Creator unfolds the beauty and harmony of Her symphony – note-perfect since before time, and forever and ever. Amen. And everything that has to do with me, and everything that’s concerning to me, is perfected, evolving fearlessly, flawlessly, ideally. -Karen Molenaar Terrell
T’was four weeks afore Christmas and it was once again time for shamelessly plugging my goods in a rhyme. There were books about Dad, and madcap books for you, books of celebration, and books of poetry, too.
I wrote two books about the drives and adventures I had with my centenarian father, Dee Molenaar, a well-known mountaineer and artist. Are You Taking Me Home Now? Adventures with Dad, and The Second Hundred Years: Further Adventures with Dad can be purchased on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and through any of your favorite bookstores. The books have five stars on Amazon. In her Amazon review, Heidi writes: “This is a delightful book and Karen is a gifted writer. She lets us listen in to the conversations she and her 100 year old Dad have on their car trips, which had me laughing and crying. Interspersed are memories of earlier times. Having a relationship with an older person whose body and brain don’t work as well as it used to requires patience, humor and love. As someone else here said, ‘Karen shows us how to do it right.’ I enjoyed reading this very much. I highly recommend this book and will be giving it out for gifts.”
My Cosmic Celebration series includes two books: Cosmic Connections: Sharing the Joy and Cosmic Kinship: Celebrating Community. These books can be purchased on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and through your favorite bookstore. They currently have five stars on Amazon. C Meares writes: “Cosmic Connections follows the excursions of an extraverted author and photographer who befriends nearly every person who crosses her path. This uplifting read highlights life’s small moments of connection — with strangers, old friends she meets by chance, the hapless, friendly dogs and former students. The author uses brief anecdotes—one or two pages—to show how much goodness permeates life. One entry describes meeting a stranger, only to find out she is the daughter of the minister who married her and her husband (in another part of the state) 30 years before. Her warm writing style and enthusiasm for life is infectious.”
In 2005, I published my first book, Blessings: Adventures of a Madcap Christian Scientist. It currently has 4.5 stars and 45 ratings on Amazon. VoIP – Dragon User writes: “OK, after reading the reviews, I thought this might make a nice Christmas present for a friend. When it arrived I decided to ‘peek’ at a few pages, but couldn’t put it down. I finished reading it in one sitting. But how to review the book is a challenge. It leaves you with such a joyful uplifted feeling and one of appreciation and relevance. At first I found myself saying, ‘I want to know this woman’ and after I finished the book I felt I did.
“Karen brings very positive reinforcement into the reader’s experience and the easy flowing style just melts in your mouth like comfort food. I found dozens of instances where I saw a parallel in my own life, that were entertaining and inspirational in a down to earth sort of way.
“I’m wearing a smile having read this and can’t think of a better way to pass an evening than this quick roller-coaster ride through another’s eyes of refreshing gratitude.
“It touched my heart and soul. Highly recommended.”
There’s also a fifth book related to the series called The Madcap Christian Scientist’s Christmas book. In his review for The Madcap Christian Scientist’s Christmas Book, Jeff Chase writes: “It’s my second Christmas with this book, and I think I’m enjoying it more this year, perhaps because it’s already feeling like a tradition. Karen’s stories, poems, and musings are full of warmth, humor, and love. There’s much to relate to here. I find myself recalling my own Christmas stories from years past. This book is a gem, made for relaxing. Enjoy!”
These Madcap Christian Scientist books can be purchased on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and your favorite bookstore.
I have three books of poetry: A Poem Lives on My Windowsill, The Brush of Angel Wings, and Since Then. These books can all be purchased on Amazon, and through your favorite bookstore. In her Amazon review of The Brush of Angel Wings, Nikki writes: “The author of “The Brush of Angel Wings” never fails to disappoint me. The poetry in her latest book causes a wide range of emotions in the reader, from joy to sadness, happiness to grief, humor to acceptance. Every poem is unique, yet the author’s distinct style can be found in each one. I enjoyed seeing glimpses of the author’s life through her poetry. I can’t wait for her next book to be released.”
“Karen Molenaar Terrell’s Scrapbook of a Year and a Day is, essentially, a compilation of Facebook posts written between January 19, 2020 and January 20, 2021. If I were to collect my FB posts, it would be very, very dull indeed, but Karen eliminated the silly cat videos, if she ever posted any, and has instead put together a moving and coherent account of the tumultuous year we all lived through and her personal experience of the year following the death of her father, Dee Molenaar. What I particularly love about Karen–and this book–is her perspective on things and her constant striving to live up to her ideals.
“I’m really not a dog-earrer–I find it a vile habit–and yet I folded down the corners on several pages.”
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Thank you for letting me shamelessly plug here. It brings me such joy to connect with others through my writing. – Karen Molenaar Terrell
Adventures of the Madcap Christian Scientist 