Faith – Page 9 – FindYourBuriedTreasure

Learning to juggle leads to multiple successes

Sometimes the lessons we learn aren’t just the ones that are actually being taught. What we get out of them can go way beyond what was intended. That happened to me last weekend, during one of the sessions at a “Lead Like Jesus” Reconnect in Chicago. The session was about leadership, but the lesson was about juggling. Each of us was placed in one of four groups, based on our level of competence and enthusiasm for juggling. Then we were given a partner, a set [...]

By bettyliedtke|May 2nd, 2014|Columns, Faith, Success|Comments Off

No longer bound by an age-old tradition

It happened again last week. And, just as it has in the past, it caught me completely off-guard. I was at 5:15 Mass on Ash Wednesday, and hoping that my stomach wouldn’t start growling during the quiet parts of the Mass. This was a possibility not only because it was getting close to dinner time, but because I had followed the Lenten restrictions for Ash Wednesday, which are to abstain from eating meat, to refrain from eating between meals, and to have only one full [...]

By bettyliedtke|March 14th, 2014|Accountability, Columns, Faith, Health and Well-being, Holidays|2 Comments

A gentle, wonderful man comes home

The world has lost a gentle and wonderful man. Most of the world never knew him, of course, and has no idea what a treasure he was – or how much he will be missed, and by how many people. But I do. After being healthy, active, and extremely social well into his 80’s, my father fell victim to a number of health issues and incidents that kept him either in the hospital or in a care center since early November. He passed away at [...]

By bettyliedtke|February 14th, 2014|Columns, Faith, Family|19 Comments

Memories and traditions warm up the holidays

When I was very young, Santa Claus used to visit our house on Christmas Eve. Not in the middle of the night – leaving presents under the tree when we were nestled all snug in our beds – but early in the evening, when we were still up and wide awake. I remember one year when we needed to make a quick trip to the grocery store on Christmas Eve. We kids were distraught, afraid we might miss Santa’s visit. Although my mom assured us [...]

By bettyliedtke|December 20th, 2013|Columns, Faith, Family, Holidays|4 Comments

A doomsday dream brings reality to life

I had a really weird dream the other night. And the weirdest thing about it was seeing the ways in which my dream world overlapped with the real one. In the dream, I was talking with a friend about the devastating state of the world today. We were in a barren, outdoor setting – the kind you see in a post-apocalyptic or zombie movie. There was another catastrophic danger on the way, but I don’t remember now whether it was an asteroid hurtling toward earth, [...]

By bettyliedtke|November 15th, 2013|Columns, Faith, Writing|Comments Off

Ugandan Martyrs Brought Faith to Life

Whenever I hear the word “martyr,” I automatically think of the stories I learned – in religion classes at the Catholic school I attended – of the holy men and women who gave up their lives for Christ. They were ordered to renounce their faith, but refused to do so, and were killed because of it – often painfully and publicly. Stoned, beheaded, or fed to the lions. The mental images I have of martyrs are of people in togas and sandals or monks’ robes [...]

By bettyliedtke|September 6th, 2013|Columns, Faith, Uganda|Comments Off

Amazing Grace is alive and getting better

I got a phone call last week from my friend Tabitha, who’s still in Uganda. She had been in the hospital visiting Grace, who was having surgery the following day. Grace is the young mother I wrote about in my column two weeks ago. She’s from Gulu, in Northern Uganda, and I met her when I was there to speak with a group of women who have formed a farming co-op and are now rebuilding their lives after years spent living in refugee camps. Grace [...]

By bettyliedtke|August 30th, 2013|Columns, Faith, Uganda, Values|2 Comments

A Lesson from Star Trek

“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one.” Die-hard Star Trek fans will remember that line from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. It’s what Spock tells Kirk after exposing himself to deadly radiation while repairing the damaged Starship Enterprise in order to save the ship and the rest of the crew. The flip side comes in the next Star Trek movie, when Kirk and crew violate orders so they can find and rescue Spock. When Spock asks [...]

By bettyliedtke|August 16th, 2013|Columns, Faith, Travel, Uganda, Values|6 Comments

Learning and relearning fills the time in Uganda

Some of the things I learned during this trip to Uganda: How to say “How are you?” “I’m fine,” and “Thank you” in Luo, the language of the Acholi tribe in Northern Uganda; What crocodile meat tastes like (better than boiled goat, in my opinion, but not as good as an ostrich burger); That wading in the Nile River is both humbling and refreshing; That a puppet waving from a bus window can make even stoic police and armed guards smile. Some of the things [...]

By bettyliedtke|August 9th, 2013|Columns, Faith, Family, Travel, Uganda|Comments Off

UGANDA TIME

Note: While I'm in Uganda, the Chanhassen Villager is publishing excerpts from my upcoming book about my first trip to Uganda, in October, 2011. Tuesday, October 18, 2011, 8:10 a.m. I really am getting used to Uganda time. By that I don’t mean that my body has finally recovered from jet lag and gotten used to the 8-hour time difference – although it has. Instead I mean that my mind is getting used to the Ugandan way of life. None of our programs have been [...]

By bettyliedtke|August 2nd, 2013|Columns, Faith, Travel, Uganda, Writing|Comments Off

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