Author Archives: Becky Dingle

About Becky Dingle

I was born a Tarheel but ended up a Sandlapper. My grandparents were cotton farmers in Laurens, South Carolina and it was in my grandmother’s house that my love of storytelling began beside an old Franklin stove. When I graduated from Laurens High School, I attended Erskine College (Due West of what?) and would later get my Masters Degree in Education/Social Studies from Charleston Southern. I am presently an adjunct professor/clinical supervisor at CSU and have also taught at the College of Charleston. For 28 years I taught Social Studies through storytelling. My philosophy matched Rudyard Kipling’s quote: “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” Today I still spread this message through workshops and presentations throughout the state. The secret of success in teaching social studies is always in the story. I want to keep learning and being surprised by life…it is the greatest teacher. Like Kermit said, “When you’re green you grow, when you’re ripe you rot.”

WHY I LOVE SUMMERVILLE!!!

Dear Reader: I think I got a God Wink through St. Francis of Assisi yesterday in my garden…because I just experienced one of the proudest moments surrounding my home town… while driving through down town. As I stared at what … Continue reading

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…”Make me an Instrument of your Peace”

Dear Reader: Yesterday I needed my garden sanctuary more than I have in a long time. Charleston, along, with Columbia, Myrtle Beach, Greenville, and other cities experienced different forms of protests on Saturday ignited by the murder of George Floyd … Continue reading

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How It All Came to Be…Blog Happy!

Dear Reader: As the tenth anniversary of the creation of my blog (Chapelofhopestories.com) grows closer …August 7 , 2010 (to be exact) memories are starting to crack open the flood gate of yesterdays. It is hard to believe that it … Continue reading

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How Did You Use Your Time?

Dear Reader: Have you considered (when all is said and done…and all the slogans about staying home have disappeared from the media and our culture with the final disappearance of the coronavirus)…what you will say was your greatest accomplishment during … Continue reading

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If Looking for Your True “Self”…Show Gratitude First

Dear Reader: In the title painting above…an artist has imagined what a global village would look like in a parallel life. I could get lost (and did for several minutes) looking at all the continents in this whimsical world. Jo … Continue reading

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Life is About Questions, Not Answers

  Dear Reader: The German poet Rainer Maria Rilke urges us to “Be patient toward all that is unsolved in our heart and try to love the questions themselves. ” In other words we should learn to “live our questions.” … Continue reading

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Finding our Personal “Hallowed Ground”

Dear Reader: Mike and Honey Burrell had a local artist, Carolyn Demotest Serrano, do this beautiful art work (pen and ink drawing) for my birthday in September 2010, following my first visit to St. Jude’s Chapel of Hope in Trust, … Continue reading

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When Everyday Life Becomes Our Prayer

Dear Reader: It has taken me a lifetime to finally get it! When we fully realize that self and Spirit are the same …just like what I sang at camps and youth retreats growing up…”We are one in the Spirit, … Continue reading

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Memorial Day…Moments of Reflections … Beginnings, Endings, and Family

Dear Reader: It is Memorial Day…just saying the two words conjures up different images and feelings for everyone. My brother Ben (Vietnam Marine- two purple hearts) said that this would be a tough weekend for him…too many images assault him … Continue reading

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Blending into Our Surroundings…

Dear Reader: I remember as a child loving to watch the nature programs on how animals blend in or camouflage themselves for protection from predators. Then there would be all kinds of cool examples like: moths, squirrels, sea creatures, flying … Continue reading

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