The Devil's Gift

Remember the 1983 movie The Big Chill?

I saw Charles III crowned in Westminster Abbey. I expected Monty Python to save the day. No such luck.

I looked in and around my world for something to occupy my mind, something remarkable. I found nothing, except this.

The Grim Reaper was not by my bedside. Something scarier was.

This past Wednesday I was on my back in the Berkeley Medical Center Cath Lab, plugged in for the shock of my life.

I loved church. Church felt like home. And then I discovered I was gay.

Persephone, beloved daughter of Zeus. has arisen. Her mother, Demeter, goddess of grain, lifts her curse from the soil. Earth blossoms.

Is Jesus coming back? The answer I once gave is not the answer I give now.

I drive my 14-year-old twin granddaughters to school most mornings. They sit in the back seat. I say something. And wait for a reply. Nothing.

Florence was worrying herself to death. Worry ate at her like termites.