When my husband Don and I take our daily walk, we hold hands. We sometimes walk over to the Starbucks on Temecula Parkway for coffee. We sometimes walk around Ronald Reagan Park. We sometimes walk around Harveston Lake. We pass oncoming walkers and call out “Good morning,” getting a smile or greeting in return from… Read More

In fifth grade when all my friends were becoming avid readers of Nancy Drew, I was not a fan. I could read well enough to sit with the highest reading group in the class when we read aloud to the teacher, but it just didn’t grab me. Later, in high school and college, I read… Read More

Since I closed my publishing business and wrote my last (for now) book, I have taken up acrylic painting. Art supplies are expensive, especially if you want to paint on cradled panels. A cradled panel is a piece of plywood or hardboard with a frame on the back of it. You can hang it directly… Read More

Chapter 10, question 7 I found this quote from Alan Watts striking: “Belief clings, but faith lets go.” Faith lets go of being right, of having answers, of knowing the passwords, of being in the club, trusting that Love will work it out in the end. I have been working for years on letting go,… Read More

Chapter 5 question 2 2. As an unchurched unbeliever, I was taught my Simplicity ideas by the culture. God and Santa Claus both watched over me to catch me doing something wrong. If I did wrong, I would be unrewarded: no presents/ no heaven. My folks taught me right and wrong in a secular way.… Read More

Chapter 9, question 2 Life is messy: As I said, my life doesn’t fit the 4 stages neatly since I was a doubter at the start, not a believer. In Stage 2, I still was a doubter, but I was giving faith a chance for the sake of my kids and because of all the… Read More

On May 1, 2021, The Blindness of Odile will be available on Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle (e-book). To encourage you to order, the Kindle version is on half price sale at $1.99, and you receive it instantly. Of course, the paperback ($14.99) can be signed by the author (me) when I see you. The… Read More

Chapter 8, question 1 [Write a letter to your former self from your current perspective] Dear Pam, Relax. You are good the way you are. You don’t need to aspire, strive, try to be perfect, outshine others, or gain recognition to be happy. In fact, all that stuff will be the source of your misery… Read More

Chapter 7, question 6 The six foundational moral values: I never really heard of these so clearly listed. I see them as ranged from low to high. The lowest are not really moral at all: what is purity? Virginity? Unmixed blood? Bathed in soap and water? Purity seems to me to be a label to… Read More

Chapter 2, question 4 The main apologetic I read was Mere Christianity by CS Lewis. It made me cry and affected me a lot when I first read it. Later, I read a critique saying that apologetics are to make you believe. Faith needs no apology. So, I am conflicted about it. When Lewis says,… Read More