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Zen and the Art of Child Maintenance

Retired Columns

From “Life in the Sandwich” to “Special Needs Mama” to “Zen and the Art of Child Maintenance”—they’re all here for you to explore.

An Open Letter to My Pro-Life Christian Friends on the Eve of the Election

I believe the real goal should be to create a society in which women and mothers and families receive the practical and emotional support they need in order to survive…

Zen and the Art of Child Maintenance | November 2008 | By Shari MacDonald Strong


The VP Candidate From Nowhere

She came out of nowhere, which is ironic considering the bridge she’s known for. And when Sarah Palin hit the national political stage, I confess that — despite being a…

Zen and the Art of Child Maintenance | September 2008 | By Shari MacDonald Strong


Moving Day

Two things that I’ve learned as a spiritual being, and as a mother, are that I don’t know everything (and I don’t trust people who say that they do), and…

Zen and the Art of Child Maintenance | June 2008 | By Shari MacDonald Strong


Voice Lessons

I remember how it felt not to trust my own voice, and how trembly I felt when I first started to quietly question out loud, and how having children changed…

Zen and the Art of Child Maintenance | May 2008 | By Shari MacDonald Strong


Sky of Blue and Sea of Green

Here is what I miss about my former, structured religious life: giving everything up to Jesus. In my youth, I would simply pray, with earnest desperation: “Jesus, please help me…

Zen and the Art of Child Maintenance | February 2008 | By Shari MacDonald Strong


Objects of Desire

Some days, it feels like things are, in countless small ways, squeezing the life — or perhaps just the patience, the once-pleasant disposition — right out of me. No wonder…

Zen and the Art of Child Maintenance | January 2008 | By Shari MacDonald Strong


The Soul of the Soul

I come to the Sufi because I want to, need to, reconnect with my soul. I can’t imagine that I am the soul of anything. We talk about creativity and…

Zen and the Art of Child Maintenance | December 2007 | By Shari MacDonald Strong


The Dark Side

Here is my confession: I rather like the darkness. Which is not to say I like badness. Above all other virtues, I value kindness, generosity, compassion, peacemaking, and forgiveness. But…

Zen and the Art of Child Maintenance | November 2007 | By Shari MacDonald Strong


Mamacosita-sweeta

Leaving small children behind is extremely complicated…It’s easy, in some ways desirable, to think of myself as a godlike figure in their lives, to imagine that I’m all-powerful, that my…

Zen and the Art of Child Maintenance | October 2007 | By Shari MacDonald Strong


Peace. Now.

We want that peace for them, and we want it for ourselves, as parents. We want it to for the mothers and fathers of Iraqi children, for orphaned children whose…

Zen and the Art of Child Maintenance | September 2007 | By Shari MacDonald Strong


Dark Night of the Summer

I used to pray about making “the right choice” in a given situation. Buddhists, I believe, focus on being in the situation at hand, without wasting energy worrying about whether…

Zen and the Art of Child Maintenance | August 2007 | By Shari MacDonald Strong


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