Barbara Swander Miller


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Honoring the journey—then and now

  • Gorgeous flowers, with a little help from AI

    I am starting to get over my Master Gardener imposter syndrome. I’m a teacher by training and vocation, so gardening has been a more recently developed hobby. But my knowledge is growing! After enjoying a bouquet of cut flowers sent by colleagues twice a month during the summer, my husband and I talked about whether…

  • White sheets in the moonlight

    I was exhausted. But my mind darted to one terrifying scenario after another. How far would a bullet penetrate through a clapboard cabin wall? Would I have a better chance of surviving if my bed were perpendicular to the outside wall? Or should I drag it longwise into the middle of the room? My thinking…

  • What’s your favorite relic?

    A tooth from the Buddha, taken from his funeral pyre and reputedly still growing? The crown of thorns worn by Jesus during his crucifixion, housed in the cathedral of Notre Dame and miraculously saved from engulfing flames by a human chain of first responders? The head of John the Baptist, retrieved by a French crusader…

  • Ten things I love about being sick

    And staying home from work is not one of them! At the risk of sounding positively toxic, there are some upsides to being sick for two and a half weeks over the holidays. I wouldn’t have seen them the week before last when I was hacking up half a lung from the deep, rumbling cough…

  • Triggers can be touchy things

    As the wife of a gun expert in a previous life, I know that some triggers are set off with barely a brush, while others practically require a fat-fingered tug. In recent years, though, a trigger has become more than a mechanical device that initiates an explosive action on a firearm, as they were in…

  • "It came without packages, boxes or bags!"

    But did Christmas leave? I imagine God enjoys a good belly laugh. Over the past three weeks, I spent sixteen fabulous days on a cruise to Hawaii. Five days in port left eleven sea days to and from LA, more than we’ve ever had. That was a major attraction for my husband, but more of…

  • Forgiveness

    Why are you pounding at my door again? I answered once, accepted your offer, and sent you away, satisfied that you wouldn’t return. But here you are again. This time pounding at my heart louder, more insistent. I don’t want to answer. I’ve hidden from your face too long. Go away! Leave me with my…

  • ‘Tis the season for silence

    Suffering from too much noise these days? Hip hop and rap versions of Christmas standards deafening you in all the department stores? Children incessantly whining and driving you nuts for this year’s must-have, the Tikduck Flying Orb Ball? Or lists of baking and shopping and decorating tasks rattling inside your head? Maybe we need a…

  • The value of feeling stupid

    I’ve spent a fair amount of my life trying not to look stupid. Abe Lincoln’’s sage advice to keep one’s mouth shut to keep people wondering, rather than opening it to confirm being a fool has not been lost on me. Luckily, as an introvert, I can often let others do the talking– unless an…

  • Knowing

    Heavy, heavy heart shoving me downward, pushing me into cold darkness, alone. I am trapped, confined, pinned under a weight I can never lift. The bitter knowledge engulfs, seeps into my broken spirit, forces surrender. My eyes spill their tears, my lips both quiver. I cannot stop. I grieve for your loss … and for…

Barbara Swander Miller

Honoring the journey in everyday life

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