Toni Lepeska
When a Parent Dies
There’s a lot of talk about peace at Christmastime, but how do we capture peace? It seems so elusive in a world fraught with terrorism, murder, mayhem, sickness and broken relationships. Despite my relationship with Jesus – called the Prince of Peace – I struggled with possessing consistent sense of peace for much of my …
I’ve really just been clinging to God lately. I’ve been really aware of my weaknesses. It’s an uncomfortable admission and an uncomfortable experience. We want to be strong. But we’re not. Illness does a great job at making a person humble. I don’t know about you, but half the time I walk around thinking, “I’ve …
I stared into the sky at the black hole ringed with white-hot fire. I’d never seen anything like this before in my life. It was unearthly. Alien. Tears flooded my eyes. Awe flooded my soul. My mother taught me to gaze into the cosmos as a girl. She walked into the front yard, brought the …
What is the good of grief? Is there anything we can snatch from the jaws of death? Or is it a final defeat – senseless, purposeless and meaningless? My mother died eight years ago today. I remember feeling the sense of total defeat for her. I was still alive. I might rise from the ashes …
I want to share a poem with you that I heard again just before Mother’s Day. I first read it in 2011 at a memorial service for a teenager. She had died “out of order,” before her parents. Jessica was very much loved. Her family and friends crafted a garden at the church she attended …
