When we woke at 2:30 a.m., the tent seemed smaller than it had when we crawled in to sleep a few hours earlier. It had begun to snow and the walls were caving in. For the rest of the night, we thumped the nylon periodically to keep the snow from accumulating and collapsing the tent. We were sleepless, but not … Read More
I already had a successful career as a nurse working with one of the best-known cardiologists in the country; helping him with his clinic, surgery, and research; even writing papers on my own. But it wasn’t enough. As a young woman I had wanted to be a doctor, but my mother, who never had much faith in my potential, laughed … Read More
All we know about my father’s upbringing is that he lived alone with his grandmother. He was very secretive about why or when his parents left him, and even whether or not they were still alive. Alcoholism apparently figured in there somewhere. Sometime in his childhood he was struck by a paralytic disease, which weakened the right side of his … Read More
I don’t take Divine Mother’s assistance for granted, but Her record with me on the highway is pretty impressive. I was with a female friend in San Francisco, on the way to the flower mart to get bouquets for a big event, when—BAM!—a tire blew. Very dramatic. I pulled into a gas station at the same time a man I … Read More
Except for a couple of trips to the emergency room, my ninety-two-year-old mother thought she was doing just fine living on her own in her big house in St. Louis, Missouri—even though none of her children lived nearby. My siblings, both medical professionals, live hours from St. Louis. I live in California. “She is an accident waiting to happen,” my … Read More
I always assumed I would have children, probably four, the same as the family I grew up in. My first marriage ended quickly in divorce, and my second marriage didn’t start until my late twenties. My new husband was ambivalent about becoming a father. Then I went to medical school, and suddenly I was thirty-nine. For the next twelve months … Read More
The big concert was on Saturday, and on Wednesday I lost my voice. I am part of a quartet that sings the music of Swami Kriyananda, and we had been months in planning and rehearsing for an interfaith “Unity through Music” event: an elegant dinner followed by a performance of our singing quartet. But it’s a little hard to do … Read More
In winter, there is a “magic line” on Highway I-90 in Washington state where the rain stops and the snow begins. Many accidents happen when drivers meet this sudden change in the weather. To make it even worse, the “magic line” is preceded by a long blind curve. I’m a firefighter, part of a first-response medical team. I know that … Read More
By the time I was thirty, I had already been married and divorced. In the decade after, I married and divorced again, and two other serious relationships started and ended. You would think at that point I would have given up and become a nun! My spiritual path supported that alternative. But in my heart I knew my desire for … Read More
The first time Yogananda gazed into my eyes from the cover of Autobiography of a Yogi, I wasn’t open enough spiritually even to buy the book and read it. Two years later, in a time of unbearable spiritual darkness and fear, I remembered those eyes and went looking for the book. I found it in my hometown public library in … Read More
