Heather Isaacs

My initials spell "Hi."

Hi.

spirituality

  • Puppets are Real.

    Between client sessions yesterday afternoon, I found a bit of time to play with my newest puppet. This little one is a spirit baby who is very hesitant to incarnate but still likes to listen to audiobooks with me sometimes. Here we are listening to Andy Serkis’ narrating the chapter “Shelob’s Lair” from The Two… Read more

  • The Day After

    In September of 2001, I started my graduate studies at a liberal Presbyterian seminary in Northern California. I was a 24 year-old Seventh-Day Adventist woman looking for a place to pursue a theological education beyond the conservative boundaries of my home denomination which did not recognize women’s ordination. But surprisingly, I soon found myself becoming… Read more

  • The Orant

    TW: grief, death, pediatric trauma. I once arrived to a pediatric ED where, again, the worst had happened. Resuscitation efforts on the baby had just ended. The social worker met me at the threshold and said they needed to excuse themselves; they could not stay in the room because of the nature of the trauma… Read more

  • Good-bye, Summer. Thank you for the Old Trees and Ostrich Feet.

    I am saying good-bye to a summer that I was barely present for. This summer was almost entirely lost to me in a dizzying spin of overnight hospital shifts and hours-long commutes across half the state as I patch together a new life for myself since I left full-time hospice chaplaincy work a year ago.… Read more

  • Birthday Wish: Rosebeam!

    Years ago, a hospice patient with dementia asked me what I was “heart-ing” for. A moment later, she then asked: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Living outside the bounds of time, she asked me this question as earnestly as if we were two schoolgirls imagining our futures ahead of us… Read more

  • Even the North Star Changes

    Did you know the North Star changes?  I did not know this until a year ago this past December when my friend DeAnna presented me with an extraordinary gift: an artisanal chocolate Advent calendar celebrating constellations of the night sky. What made this gift extraordinary extended well beyond the conscientiously sourced and exquisitely crafted confections.… 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

  • 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