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Reflections of Connie Carlisle Polley

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Category: Essays

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Finding Personal Equilibrium in a Chaotic World

April 9, 2021April 9, 20211 Comment

I want to share with you something a friend of mine said recently to me, “The virus is global, but God is universal.” Maybe she was quoting someone. I don’t know. But her words did make me pause to reflect on my belief in a Higher Being and how this belief affects my response to … Continue reading Finding Personal Equilibrium in a Chaotic World

Jumpin’ Back Into Music Performance

March 19, 2021March 12, 20212 Comments

I recently shared two blog posts about memories my two daughters had on the early influence of music in their lives. Since there always is a bit of rivalry among siblings, I thought I’d better write a blog post about music in the life of my first-born child, a son. So, that’s what you are … Continue reading Jumpin’ Back Into Music Performance

Vibrant Vibes: A Musical Phenomenon

March 12, 2021March 12, 20211 Comment

We see a wide-eyed little girl, maybe six or so, in a church worship service. She’s standing next to her mother in a pew at the left side of the sanctuary, very close to the pianist whose fingers move adroitly over the keys of the ebony baby grand piano. The child’s eyes shift from the … Continue reading Vibrant Vibes: A Musical Phenomenon

Music’s Magic Healing Place

March 5, 2021March 12, 20211 Comment

When my children were  little, we always had lots of music in our home. One of my adult daughters recently reminded me of one of those times. She said she remembered watching me play a lively upbeat pop tune on piano and sing words about putting a nickel into something called a nickelodeon. She told … Continue reading Music’s Magic Healing Place

Katherine Johnson: Getting the Numbers Right

February 19, 2021February 18, 2021Leave a comment

History chooses whom to remember and whom to forget. And such was the case of African American women who worked for NASA in its early days as “human computers,” mathematicians, scientists and engineers. One of these highly intelligent and strongly motivated women was Katherine Johnson who died just about one year ago at the age … Continue reading Katherine Johnson: Getting the Numbers Right

Would You Hide Me?

February 5, 2021February 5, 20211 Comment

Recently I tuned into “Today with Hoda and Jenna” on NBC as I was eating my late breakfast. It was International Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 21—and in 2021 the 76th anniversary of the liberation of the Polish concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. It caught my attention as I remembered the extreme sadness I felt when … Continue reading Would You Hide Me?

The Uninvited Guest

January 15, 2021Leave a comment

The year 2020 brought not only to the United States of America but to our entire planet an Uninvited Guest who prowled around like a snarling, roaring lion looking for his next unwitting victim. With his powerful grip and unyielding jaws he rendered his prey helpless. One victim he would wound and spit out. Yet another … Continue reading The Uninvited Guest

A Journey Full of Hope

January 8, 2021December 31, 2020Leave a comment

Have you ever started out on a road trip knowing the highway you were going to take, but not quite sure how many miles you were going to travel, or exactly what would become your final destination? This was the kind of journey the “Magi,” or Wise Men from the East” found themselves on as … Continue reading A Journey Full of Hope

Friends and Family Are The Best Presents

Family and Friends Are the Best Presents

December 25, 2020December 10, 2020Leave a comment

I don't know if the number or the monetary value of your Christmas, Hanukkah, or other Winter Holiday presents is different this year than in years past. Perhaps your financial situation is insecure due to the ramifications of the spread of the Coronavirus. Maybe you are feeling down that you cannot provide those holiday gifts … Continue reading Family and Friends Are the Best Presents

Imperfect But Still Beautiful

December 18, 2020December 10, 2020Leave a comment

A few years ago one of my daughters gave me a gorgeous ceramic piece which had been crafted by an artist friend. It was strictly decorative, not utilitarian; which is fine because art can serve the purpose of lifting our spirits, causing us to reflect perhaps introspectively, or encouraging our minds toward how we might … Continue reading Imperfect But Still Beautiful

Taking Sides in a Voting Dilemma

October 30, 2020October 30, 20201 Comment

I remember being exposed to the importance of taking part in the American voting process even as a young child. I only knew that there were two sides from which an adult could make a choice and they were called Democrats or Republicans. As a youngster, I didn’t know anything about party platforms or politics. … Continue reading Taking Sides in a Voting Dilemma

How to Be Winners in the 2020 Election

October 23, 2020October 22, 2020Leave a comment

How are you as an American citizen personally dealing with the political divisiveness that we are now witnessing in our country? If you are among the projected 145 million persons in the United States who will vote in the November 3, 2020 Election be it through absentee ballot, early in-person voting or November 3rd voting, … Continue reading How to Be Winners in the 2020 Election

Enduring Thorns

October 16, 2020October 16, 2020Leave a comment

One of my climbing red rose bushes this year developed a really thick stem with huge prickly thorns for practically its entire length of about four feet. That started me to think about the thorns we are enduring in our daily lives which have been turned topsy-turvy in 2020 as we react to COVID-19, economic … Continue reading Enduring Thorns

Wearing a Mask IS a Big Deal!

October 9, 2020October 9, 20207 Comments

From the outset of the coronavirus in the United States in early 2020, I was cautious about adhering to the Centers for Disease Control guidelines for Americans’ response to it. I felt the threat was real and was determined that I would do all I could to avoid being infected. Among all the other precautions … Continue reading Wearing a Mask IS a Big Deal!

What is Your Agenda?

September 25, 2020September 22, 20202 Comments

As I was recently thumbing through several of my recipe books, one of which had belonged to my mother, I pulled out a single half-sheet of paper with her handwriting on it. I quickly realized that my then recently widowed mom was jotting down an agenda: notes of what she wanted to get done in … Continue reading What is Your Agenda?

How to Keep Standing

September 4, 2020September 3, 20201 Comment

One day you’re standing upright, holding your head up high. All around you is a clear sky with rays of sunshine warming your face and your heart. There are stressful elements in your life, to be sure. But they are manageable. You have a daily routine. And a very normal daily routine it is. Working. … Continue reading How to Keep Standing

Grow Up! And Act Like An Adult!

August 21, 2020August 20, 20202 Comments

Have you ever witnessed a mom berating her child at the grocery store and wondered why major discipline couldn’t be kept at home? What about a parent so intent on his child’s athletic team’s winning that he takes to the field to challenge verbally or physically a coach or a referee? Road rage is something … Continue reading Grow Up! And Act Like An Adult!

Giving Grace and Salt to Our Words

July 31, 2020July 29, 20202 Comments

Rudeness, crudeness, and outright lies are what I hear daily in the words spoken within the arenas of government, politics, show biz venues and the public square. What does the Bible have to say about the speech of a child of God? In his letter to the Colossians, the members of the church that he … Continue reading Giving Grace and Salt to Our Words

sparrow

Finding Personal Equilibrium in a Chaotic World

July 17, 2020July 16, 2020Leave a comment

I want to share with you something a friend of mine said recently to me, “The virus is global, but God is universal.” Maybe she was quoting someone. I don’t know. But her words did make me pause to reflect on my belief in a Higher Being and how this belief affects my response to … Continue reading Finding Personal Equilibrium in a Chaotic World

Stop the World! I Wanna Get Off!

July 10, 2020July 8, 20202 Comments

Some of you reading my words love the thrill of a roller coaster ride. The speed, the sharp turns, the precipitous dip! But that has never been an adventure I craved. In fact, I have only been on one roller coaster in my entire life, when my husband somehow tricked me into taking leave of … Continue reading Stop the World! I Wanna Get Off!

Congratulations to 2020 Graduates!

May 29, 2020May 26, 2020Leave a comment

Here is a letter to my school-age grandchildren which I would like to share with you: May 2020 Dear Grandgirls and Grandguys, Congratulations to you 2020 Graduates and your Families! To my Eighth Grade Grad, you really are a 2020 graduate as you have finished the rigorous requirements for the courses in your grade and … Continue reading Congratulations to 2020 Graduates!

How to Keep Standing

May 15, 2020May 18, 20208 Comments

One day you’re standing upright, holding your head up high. All around you is a clear sky with rays of sunshine warming your face and your heart. There are stressful elements in your life, to be sure. But they are manageable. You have a daily routine. And a very normal daily routine it is. Working. … Continue reading How to Keep Standing

Building Bigger Barns

May 1, 2020May 1, 20201 Comment

In my recent series on money management, I've shared how my husband and I handled finances through our almost 33 years of marriage. We went from being a childless working couple for seven years to a family which included three children and two dogs. We lived in a small inexpensive apartment in the inner city … Continue reading Building Bigger Barns

Standing on Holy Ground

April 10, 2020April 7, 20204 Comments

It was Easter Morning 1999 and my husband, who had been a vibrant, stirring, muscular man, was now reduced to a skeletal figure forced to lie flat on his back on a hospital bed. Our three children, all in their twenties, were fulfilling their Sunday church responsibilities in music and media and would join me in … Continue reading Standing on Holy Ground

Understanding Jesus’ Observance of the Jewish Passover

April 9, 2020April 7, 2020Leave a comment

This supper of Jesus with his twelve disciples which we call The Last Supper, as it is recorded in the Gospels, was going to be a meal unlike others they had shared. Jesus would reveal what was about to happen in the days ahead. And He was going to institute the observance of Communion or … Continue reading Understanding Jesus’ Observance of the Jewish Passover

Katherine Johnson: Getting the Numbers Right

February 28, 2020February 28, 2020Leave a comment

History chooses whom to remember and whom to forget. And such was the case of African American women who worked for NASA in its early days as “human computers,” mathematicians, scientists and engineers. One of these highly intelligent and strongly motivated women was Katherine Johnson who died this week at the age of 101. I … Continue reading Katherine Johnson: Getting the Numbers Right

Vibrant Vibes: A Musical Phenomenon

January 31, 2020January 30, 2020Leave a comment

We see a wide-eyed little girl, maybe six or so, in a church worship service. She’s standing next to her mother in a pew at the left side of the sanctuary, very close to the pianist whose fingers move adroitly over the keys of the ebony baby grand piano. The child’s eyes shift from the … Continue reading Vibrant Vibes: A Musical Phenomenon

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