For Me… Ivy for Dana 10 Sep 2021 By Kristeen A. Bruun I attend a lot of funerals. Partly, as I age, I of course know more people who die. But also, I grew up in a small…
For Me No Regrets! 1 Aug 202131 Aug 2021 By Kristeen Bruun These days, regrets swarm around my head like the swarms of no-see-ums used to do when my siblings and cousins and I played in the northern Wisconsin…
For Me Reorganizing Choices 19 Jul 2021 By Kristeen Bruun Years of disorganization have left me with a mish-mash of stuff, all mixed together, so I’m currently working on organizing all of my possessions. I know my…
For Me Watching the Dock Emerge 2 Jul 2021 By Kristeen Bruun I was barely home from my son’s wedding long enough to do my laundry when I traveled forth again for an eight-day silent retreat. The first question…
For Me The One Voice 22 Apr 202121 Apr 2021 By Kristeen Bruun I am a widow. I did not get to live the life that my husband and I had planned to live together. My parents have been dead…
For Me New Year’s Resolutions I Will NOT Be Making, and One That Maybe I Will 3 Jan 2021 By Kristeen Bruun New Year’s Day has come and gone, and I am struggling to convince myself that I will not fall apart when I go back to work on…
Advent… Dear Jesus, I Have Survivor Guilt 13 Dec 202014 Dec 2020 By Kristeen Bruun Over the past ten days, I have been working on writing my annual Christmas letter, something I have sent out for at least the past 30 years.…
For Me Saying Good-bye to Beany Malone 16 Nov 202016 Nov 2020 By Kristeen A. Bruun When I was in junior high, I began reading a series set in Denver whose heroine was Beany Malone. Lenora Mattingly Weber’s first book was published…
For Me Reflections from the White Bubble 28 Oct 2020 By Kristeen A. Bruun I am a Caucasian, born and raised in northern Wisconsin, the product of a union between a Dane and a German. You can’t get much more…
For Me A Fresh Start, Every Day 7 Aug 20207 Aug 2020 By Kris Bruun I am a CASA (court-appointed special advocate). I work with a pre-teen who just turned twelve. She’s been in the system since she was 8. She just…
Cultural Studies… Faithful In Small Things 2 Aug 2020 By Kris Bruun Like many people, I’ve had somewhat more time on my hands during these Covid days, and I’ve soaked up some it in my favorite escape: reading. Many…
For Me… The Eleventh Hour 29 Jun 2020 By Kris Bruun I spent five days in a silent retreat recently, and somewhere in the middle of my days, I got a new insight on a passage of scripture…
For Me… He Breathed On Them 26 May 2020 By Kristeen Bruun “He breathed on them...” (John 20:22) I don't think I’ve ever understood this passage as completely as I do now, when we’re doing our best not to…
For Me… The Tide Has Turned 4 May 2020 By: Kristeen Bruun In these days of “shelter at home,” I’ve been re-reading (for the tenth or so time) The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. I thought now…
Cultural Studies… A Different Vision of Value 9 Apr 2020 By Kristeen Bruun A couple of weeks ago, the lieutenant governor of Texas, Dan Patrick, age 70, made the interesting statement that he would be willing to die to save…
For Me… Keeping Vigil 29 Mar 202028 Mar 2020 By Kris Bruun Louisa May Alcott’s classic, Little Women, begins with the sentence, “Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents.” I understand how Jo March feels. As the weeks wear…
Cultural Studies… Preparing for Holy Week in the Age Covid-19 12 Mar 2020 By Kris Bruun I have always loved Holy Week. I grew up in a small town in northern Wisconsin when the culture in such places was still imbued with religious…
For Me… Taking a Step Back 17 Feb 20206 Sep 2020 By Kristeen A. Bruun I just wrote a memo to my Board of Education that I will no longer be teaching children's Sunday school. It wasn't an easy decision. I…
