A Beautiful Christmas, Decorations Everywhere, Festive Garlands Hanging, Inspiring Joyous Kinder Laughter, Moving Non-believers On-toward Peace, Quieting Restive Souls, Tempering Unrest.
                                                                          Very Worry-free Xmas, 
                                                                                             Your Zitherists  
If you haven’t already noticed, there are 26 words, written in grammatical sentences, each beginning with successive letters of the alphabet, starting with A and ending with Z. Pat Boran, an Irish poet, gets the credit for this exercise our group is doing over the holidays. It’s in his book, “The Portable Creative [ ... ]

 
    Eileen lost her husband Gerry several years ago. She recently wrote this Christmas letter to him:
Dear Angel Pop,
 I hope after two years that you have earned your wings.  I remain here on earth faithful to your memory.
Many people give me advise “get involved” “be around other people”.  I am trying very hard, this past week I went to five social gatherings.  I enjoyed them for the time they lasted.  Reminds me of  song “What’s it all about Alfie?  Is [ ... ]

    A survivor friend on a trip down south E-mailed me of meeting an elderly couple in a Maryland trailer park.  Her head was completely bandaged. Just a week earlier doctors had found a large brain tumor and cut it out. They were leaving the park to continue their tour of the US. Our friend admired the couple for their strength, courage, and determination. However, I did not; I questioned their decision.
    At the next meeting of our WFW group I asked for written [ ... ]

         We were trying to write poetry that joined areas of stress with words or images that nourish us, that help ease that stress.   Here are two such poems  from our Berlin group.        
                                  ALL I WANT
All I want is to find my purpose in life
It seems that I am just marking time
Each day is endless from sunrise to sunset
Until it is time to lay my head down
I say the child’s prayer before sleep,
“Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the
Lord my soul to keep, [ ... ]

Kathy Vader’s book, Writing for Wellness in Christian Settings, is now available for free through Smashwords.
Written as a addition to Writing for Wellness, this easy-to-follow guide will help ministers, outreach facilitators, health ministry leaders, and others establish and lead Writing for Wellness classes. These classes provide an extension of the community, caring, and concern received in churches. Participants learn writing techniques to help them relieve grief, forgive, address anger and frustration, and understand their relationship with God.

Writing for [ ... ]