For a long time, there was a sad and empty stone marker in the corner of a parking lot at one of the busiest intersections in Bolingbrook. For 150 years, this place was “Barber’s Corners.” You’d miss the marker if you weren’t looking for it: The Bolingbrook Historic Preservation Commission installed a plaque here in 1979. […]
Boring Suburban Houses 
March 11, 2014 by
Often, people have this image of the suburbs as a bland, cookie-cutter type place where all the houses look the same. I’m lucky enough to live in a suburb like Bolingbrook, where we have enough interesting (and eccentric?) people, apparently, that this is not the case. Believe me – plenty of suburbs, and even post-war […]
Ashes to Go, 2014 
March 6, 2014 by
St. Benedict did “Ashes to Go” again this year – we offer ashes and a prayer of confession to passers by, since so many people have become too busy for their spiritual lives, and because we believe church shouldn’t stay contained inside the four walls of a building. We were out from 6-9 a.m. We […]
Subdivision Winter Wonderland 
February 14, 2014 by
Ducks! Rabbit and dog tracks in the yard, and lots of scattered bird seed. View from my church office window. (Cross-shaped w/ little cross prism on the ledge)
Beast of the Suburban Wild
December 31, 2013 by
Who knew? Bolingbrook has its own Mastodon! Construction workers dug up this enormous jawbone when I-55 was under construction in the early 1960s. It’s now at the Field Museum. One of my readers – my friend Emily – brought this to my attention and took these photos for me. The Bolingbrook Mastodon Jaw sits under […]
Theology at Target
December 27, 2013 by
“Word art” has become popular. You can buy some at your local big box store. But sometimes I wonder if the “wisdom” peddled by some of these things is really all that helpful for people. Here are some examples from Target and Meijer: some I thought were good, others pretty bad. For some reason this […]
Loving Your Neighbor (in the Suburbs)
November 21, 2013 by
Jesus said: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” In my subdivision, we just kind of wave. We wave as we come and go – as we drive in and drive out. As we work in the yard. As we get the mail. We wave and we sometimes ask, “How are you?” The other day, I was […]
Our Annual Pet Blessing
October 5, 2013 by
A Pet Blessing is a great way for a church to meet its neighborhood. Today, St. Benedict hosted its annual Pet Blessing. Two of my wonderful leaders set up plates of dog and people cookies, a water bowl, lemonade and coffee. I put on a stole and we gathered under our driveway portico to welcome […]
Ten on Tuesday
September 17, 2013 by
Some stuff that’s been going on around here lately… 1. Adam and I went white water rafting with his dad and brother last month. I was nervous that it would be terrifying, but it was actually easy and kind of lovely. You kind of bounce along, have fun, get wet and see lots of beautiful […]
