Gaining a heart of wisdom
Peeling potatoes for dinner, I was listening to music, a lovely arrangement around a poem by Robert Frost. Of course, I couldn’t help but sing along until... “BONG!” The clock in the living room began chiming the hour. The sudden dissonance stopped my singing, but not my enjoyment, because I loved that clock, and because I knew… Continue reading Delighting in the Reality of Temporary Dissonance
Happy Pentecost Sunday! I wonder how we would respond today to a reenactment of the original Acts 2 Pentecost scene, complete with rushing wind, tongues of fire, and unscheduled utterances in various languages. The Early Church was building the plane as they flew it. There was no "earlier church" to set a precedent for what… Continue reading The Sure and Steady Pilot Light of Pentecost
When he was dying of pancreatic cancer, author and New York City pastor Tim Keller made the surprising observation that although cancer was taking its toll on his body, he and his wife, Kathy, would never want to go back to the kind of prayer life or spiritual life he had before the cancer. Knowing… Continue reading You Are Here—Whether You Like It or Not
Mother's Day can be rough. A day intended to honor and encourage mothers sometimes spirals into disappointment or feeds our feelings of inadequacy. We compare ourselves to other mothers (either in our real world or in the tiny, square pictures on our phones) and conclude that everyone else is doing it "better," having more fun,… Continue reading Wishing You a Happy, Holy Mother’s Day
Ever since our oldest son was born, I have been inscribing my children's initials in the margins of my Bible next to verses that I have prayed for them. For a long time, there were four sets of initials, but then the wives and the grandchildren started adding to the family. Today, the count is… Continue reading The Greatest Gift You Can Offer Your Children and Grandchildren
Do you ever read something in the Bible and think, "Wow, that sounds a little over the top!" I am simply not capable of the emotional range of some of the more expressive prophets and psalmists, but, even more than that, I lack their depth of love and fervor of desire for God and his… Continue reading Love What God Commands. Desire What God Promises.
Here in Midcoast Maine, spring is a transitional season. We all know we're on the way toward something good, but it's sure taking its good old time getting here. And then, blink, and you'll miss it! Whenever I'm in transition, impatience tugs at my coat tails. Neither here nor there yet, I'm tempted to numb… Continue reading Stay in the Present Moment During Your Seasons of Transition
I stumbled upon the Artemis II live stream while I was on the elliptical last week. Seeing what the astronauts were seeing and hearing their voices transmitted from space boggles the mind. To be honest, though, I can't let myself think for too long about their forty minutes on the far side of the moon—forty… Continue reading Even on the Far Side of the Moon
Happy Easter! While you're rushing around this morning to get ready for church and bake the ham, try to imagine what it must have been like for the disciples and friends of Jesus to encounter him, walking around in a living body. We can imagine their level of surprise, but the truth is that they… Continue reading If You Really Believe that He Rose from the Dead…
Little boys don't just magically start hanging up their tiny jackets when they walk through the door. They have to be taught that this is how civilized people live and move through life, and in the spring of 1996, this was front and center in the Morin household. Our son had his very own hook… Continue reading What Kind Of Messiah Are You Really Looking For?
Living Our Days 