Gaining a heart of wisdom
With a sigh of relief, I glued the last tiny piece of the decoration into place: a scattering of yellow felt hay secured to the silhouette of a brown felt manger. I'm craft-challenged, no doubt, but the adorable grandboy is two, and he's quite ready to start making memories of an Advent tree banner with… Continue reading An Eternity of Days
Lectio divina, the practice of "sacred reading," brings to mind images of flickering candles and meditative silences broken only by the turn of a page or the scratch of a pen on paper. The flickering candle I can manage, but my dining room table "command post" is where just about any kind of reading happens at my… Continue reading Sacred Reading – Hands On
Stop signs and flashing lights preside over busy intersections. Commas and semi-colons mark the collision of clauses. Wouldn't it be lovely if there were some ready marker or built-in gulp of air at the major crossroads of life? Kelly Chripczuk began living the transition from ten years in full-time mothering mode when her youngest children went… Continue reading Chickens at the Crossroads
Six years ago, Ann Voskamp took the dare to dive deep into a lifestyle of gratitude. Could she record one thousand gifts from God and let her heart be changed by the knowledge of all the ways that God loved her? She wrote about the dare in her first book, and suddenly the Greek word… Continue reading The Broken Reaching Out to the Broken
There's a Greek alphabet tucked into my cookbook shelf, and every so often I bump into it in my search for a recipe. It's an apt metaphor for the place and prominence that deep study plays in my every day life -- tucked somewhere between the soup and the muffins. The reappearance of that chart… Continue reading Five Reasons You Should Study Greek
The words of 17th century poet John Milton from On His Blindness, come to mind with every visit to my mother's long-term care facility: "They also serve who only stand and wait." I hope it's true, and I'd love to report that in the midst of my waiting we have warm and meaningful conversations or… Continue reading Standing and Waiting with Those Who Suffer
In my gratitude journal, you will not find the words "back pain" or "dead air conditioner in the mini-van." And even though I have read (and re-read) the Beatitudes, I am in a season of mourning deeply over the advancing dementia of a dear friend -- and I'm not feeling the least bit blessed by… Continue reading Ten Thousand Truths
Living near the coast of Maine and worshiping in a small fishing village, I've spent some idyllic moments on the deck of a friend's lobster boat and marveled at the treasures (the beautiful and the ugly) that come tumbling out of a lobster trap. I've skirted the perimeter of a secluded island with four little… Continue reading Dramatic, Wild, and Wet
Three of my four boys are volunteer fire fighters, so when they get together, the stories pile up, one upon another, and the youngest of the three will, inevitably, be reminded (repeatedly) of his lowly status. He's a "probie," a probationary fire fighter -- new, full of enthusiasm, but not necessarily full of experience or… Continue reading A Culture with No Excuse
For the reader who writes (or for the writer who reads), certain authors are a gold mine. With a bracing vocabulary, a precision of thought, and a way with a sentence that manages to be both wise and witty, David Bentley Hart has a perspective on the world that requires a careful reading -- that… Continue reading Wicked Splendid
Living Our Days 