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Seeing Signs

September 1, 2025 by Alysa Filed Under: Blog Leave a Comment

It’s late August and the corn fields are growing tall here in our corner of southeastern Pennsylvania. They remind me of a favorite movie, Signs, written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. I love the suspense, cinematography, soundtrack, and the way it was filmed in locations surrounding Philadelphia, like many of his other movies. If you’re from the area, you probably know that filming took place very close to home in Bucks County. But my favorite thing about the movie is the central conflict which explores how we explain life, death, our purpose and meaning.

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On Clichés and Suffering

May 26, 2025 by Alysa Filed Under: Blog 3 Comments

Our culture seems to run on tropes, mottos and trite bromides. Cute household signs are one thing, but empty platitudes that fail the common-sense test are another. Many popular slogans offer nonsensical advice such as, “you can be anything you want to be” (anything?), “follow your bliss” (what if that’s heroin?), and “manifest it into existence” (try manifesting someone back from the dead). Here’s another: “God will never give me more than I can handle.” But…is that true?

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Getting to Heaven

December 23, 2024 by Alysa Filed Under: Blog 2 Comments

Recently I had an outpatient procedure involving fast-acting anesthesia. As the anesthesiologist put the medicine in my IV line, she said it might burn a bit. Less than 5 seconds later, I remember a tingly sensation as though I were fading away like Homer Simpson disappearing into the shrubs, or Captain Kirk dissolving into millions of energy particles in the Enterprise transporter. When I awoke it seemed like only moments had passed.

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Seasons of Change

November 11, 2024 by Alysa Filed Under: Blog 4 Comments

Autumn is the quintessential season of change. A chill is the air, backyard bonfires fill our noses with the smell of smoke and leaves turn beautiful shades of yellow, orange and red. Then they fall, creating dry, crunchy piles on the ground, leaving stark profiles of empty, barren trees. It’s a beautiful time, or perhaps a melancholy time for those of us reluctant to let go of summer.

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God’s Good Plans Are Better Than Our Best

August 5, 2024 by Alysa Filed Under: Blog 6 Comments

Lately my husband and I have been talking about life plans, goals and ambition with our grown children. They’re all young adults moving at various stages along their own individual paths of independence. Each is considering various options for the future, pondering what comes next.

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A Funeral and a Wedding

January 8, 2024 by Alysa Filed Under: Blog 2 Comments

Arranged on the shelf above my desk are various photos of my dad, along with a family picture of my husband and me with our 3 young (at the time) children. A small flowery sign in the center of the pictures reads “wish you were here.” We lost my dad last summer after a difficult battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.

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