Category: hope and imagination
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Wholeness: a Good Word and a New Year
Wholeness – it’s my word for the new year. Some years a word has served me better than a resolution. A word’s given guidance when I didn’t know where I was going, let alone what steps to take to get there. When the world keeps changing, or when I’m considering what’s important in a new…
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On Birch Branches and Everyday Reminders
A birch tree reaches out over the White River at a point very near my favorite bike trail. A clear view of it opens up from the hilltop north of an interstate bridge. From there I see many branches of many trees, but the birch’s vivid white bark often catches my attention. I first noticed…
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On Ecclesiastes and Tending the Wind
It’s done. I finished. I wanted more from the book of Ecclesiastes. I wanted the author to address things he didn’t address. And since he didn’t, I wrote the novella To Tend the Wind. In the short video below, I say a bit more about the thinking behind my writing process … For even more context…
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On Ecclesiastes and Women
I’m trying to imagine myself among those gathered to hear Qohelet speak. (Qohelet, Koheleth, the Preacher, the Teacher – different translations of the Bible refer to the author of Ecclesiastes in different ways.) Would there be any other women there, and would we even have opportunity to experiment in the ways Qohelet says he experimented,…
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On Ecclesiastes and Hope … or Not
Does a story (or any other creative work, for that matter) need to evoke hope if it’s to be life-giving? Or liberating? Or beautiful, true, or otherwise “good”? I’ve been pondering this since a conversation with colleagues a while back. As I’ve mentioned, I’m in the middle of something called the Religion, Spirituality, and the Arts Seminar (RSA),…
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All Those Who Wander: The Spiritual Practice of Walking
I could have driven to the coffee shop. I’d have stayed warmer and drier. But that wasn’t the point. The point was that it was time for a walk. So, inside heavy wool coat, hat, scarf, and mittens, I set out on foot into the swirl of damp snowflakes. They stuck everywhere: on my nose,…
About the author
Callie J. Smith writes about women who, like her, are finding themselves. Her stories and essays explore everyday things like hope, creativity, and grief.
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Callie J. Smith 