Heather Isaacs

My initials spell "Hi."

Hi.

  • Help Is On The Way

    Before I begin, I must say that I encounter things in my hospice work that I do not pretend to understand or explain or defend. Much of my career I spend at the edge of not knowing. Often, I feel like Sorcerer’s Apprentice doing my best in the face of profound powers and mysteries to… Read more

  • Storm Cloud of Witnesses

    One January morning several years ago, I drove a stretch of Hwy 29 more familiar to me than almost any other after years of traveling up and down the Napa Valley visiting hospice patients in their homes. But on that day, exhausted and soul-weary, I was on my way to a retreat in Mendocino where… Read more

  • Love Hoarders

    There exists a bedroom closet in my parents’ house where I have stored, over the years, a sizable number of boxes holding things of mine that have not been sensible to carry with me as I maintain a studio-sized lifestyle. But neither are they things I could bear to let go of, a reality I… Read more

  • Car Fires and First Kisses

    With the exception of a misguided attempt at first love with a man that I am sure at least one culture in human civilization would describe as a relative, I’ve never dated a man that I haven’t first met online. Naively, I relayed this fact of my life to a friend of mine who is… Read more

  • The Reluctant Hospice Chaplain

    It’s amazing how often my elderly hospice patients advise me to live without fear, love with everything I have, enjoy life while I’m still young, and do what makes me happy. They say this so often I’ve come to believe they are collectively speaking Truth with a capital T and that these are some of… Read more

  • The Missionary Position, Part 2

    For Part 1: https://oddbygod.wordpress.com/2013/10/05/the-missionary-position-part-i When you are thrown into a chasm of despair, I believe in holding on to whatever you need to make it through to the other side. Sometimes rescuing ourselves out of the pit involves a lot of clawing at rock surfaces, blindly feeling for the slightest edge that will bear our… Read more

  • The Missionary Position, Part 1

    The year between my sophomore and junior years of college, I worked as a student missionary. With my good friend Charity, we committed nine months to teaching English at a church-affiliated school in the city of Prague. As far as missionary positions go, ours was an easy job. Teach English during the week. Build relationships… Read more

  • My Genius Hate Notes

    At 36, I am happier with myself than I’ve ever been. More than any time in my life, I take joy in simply being me. But this week has been a harsh reminder that I still have a healthy dose of self-hatred running through my veins. I’ve hated myself for much of my life. This… Read more

  • Becoming a Heathen

    One summer, during seminary, a friend asked me to be a girls’ counselor for his church youth group at their annual trip to a Southern Baptist camp in the Sierras. I said yes because we were friends. I should have said no because we were friends. We should have both known better. I was in the midst… Read more

  • Episode 2: Queenie TT

    A conversation with local Bay Area comedian Queenie TT about her incredible journey of weight loss (200+ lbs and counting), personal faith, and discovering the power of comedy as she fights for her life. Calling herself a “controversial Christian” nothing is off limits for Queenie TT; she gave a brutally honest, raw, touching, funny appraisal… Read more