GREENWICH PEN WOMEN - Arts, Letters, Music, Creativity

“When you’re stuck, and sure you’ve written absolute garbage, force yourself to finish and then decide to fix or scrap it ---or you will never know if you can.”   ~~ Jodi Picoult

My parents needed a break from the constant battling between my two younger brothers. Dad was so embarrassed by my brothers’ constant fighting that he runaround the house slamming windows shut.   “Be quiet! The neighbors will hear you!” He tried to protect his reputation as model parent and church leader. Furthermore, he was the drum major in a bagpipe band that raised money for Shriners Hospitals for Children. He had to protect his image as a lover of children … even his own. However, one day the boys fought viciously on the front lawn. Dad was so mad that he ran outside and screamed, “I’m going to send you to two different reform schools!”  His face turned red and I thought he’d have a stroke.  Unwittingly, I added fuel to the fire. I ran outside and stuck up for my brothers. “If you send the boys away, you’ll have to send me, too!” I don’t know what made me think that Dad wouldn’t have been glad to get rid of all three of us, but he stopped yelling ... too late to avo

Don’t panic. Stay calm. In times of trouble and in life and death situations, Jews and Christians find comfort in Psalm 23. Today with the Coronavirus, we face an invisible enemy that affects all our lives. In an effort to give you more insight on this Psalm, let me share with you my thoughts and how it helped me through some difficult times. Then and now I adapt Psalm 23 to my present situation. I make this psalm my own.   Psalm 23 uses shepherd and sheep imagery. God is the good shepherd that provides us, the sheep, with safety and sustenance. The first three verses of this psalm focus on God’s provisions given to us.             The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures: He leads me beside still waters; He restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. Lying down is a symbol for peace and tranquility. The still waters refresh us. So if we are part of God’s flock and let God govern our lives, we will be rev