Gaining a heart of wisdom
It's nearly time. Even two weeks ago, standing thigh-deep in snow beside the bush, I could see that the buds had begun to swell large, and so it won't be long until I lop off some of the bush's waywardness and then arrange the bare branches in a vase of water. I will begin watching… Continue reading The Radical Simplicity of Looking Up
Welcome to Week 7 of our discussion of C.S. Lewis's Till We Have Faces! As we consider the events of Chapters 16-18, I'm looking forward to another opportunity to hear your insights into this unfolding drama. Plot Summary Once again, Orual creeps back into the palace unseen, but after this catastrophic encounter with Psyche, it… Continue reading A Veiled Life in the Sandy Waste: Till We Have Faces (7)
It certainly doesn't happen often enough, but when it does, it's a glorious thing -- the meeting over tea that has all the marks of the C.S. Lewis definition of friendship: "“Friendship ... is born at the moment when one [wo]man says to another "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . .… Continue reading Embracing Brave
I don't usually share a post on Fridays, but I couldn't resist sharing this podcast (yes, Michele has entered the 21st century) of a conversation with Holly Barrett. Last fall, Holly Barrett invited me to be a guest on her weekly show, Living a Redeemed Life. By the time we worked out the details… Continue reading Living a Redeemed Life — A Conversation with Michele Morin
Welcome to Week 5 of our discussion group around C.S. Lewis's Till We Have Faces. I haven't taken time to figure out how many of us are reading through the book together, but I have become aware that as many of us are reading and sharing our insights, there are also many who are following along… Continue reading Till We Have Faces (5): Why Should Our Hearts Not Dance?
Ask an author to name his favorite of all the books he's written, and most will demur, insisting that it's like trying to choose a favorite child. Not C.S. Lewis. He believed Till We Have Faces to be his best book. In his novel based on the Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche, Lewis uses the… Continue reading Till We Have Faces: Welcome to the Discussion
Whether it's feelings of inadequacy, parenting anxieties, or panic over the latest terrorist tactics in the news, the challenge to face down our fears and to move forward into new, healthful, and bold behaviors is a common thread for January writing and thinking. The problem, however, with this seasonal booster is that the need for… Continue reading Awakening Courage in Community
"Don't corral others to meet your needs." "Choose to be a servant." "Give yourself away." If you're interviewing a guy who wears the title "Chief Encouragement Officer" like a banner, you can expect to hear lots of sentences like these. Here's another one: "The goal is to get small and, in humility, to build others… Continue reading The Great Work: Encouragement
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
Whether it's a movie, a novel, a picture book, or a tale spun around the dining room table, we are drawn to stories. In I Corinthians 10, the Apostle Paul looks back on one of the most well-known stories of his people and uses the important images there to illustrate sobering truth for a fledgling… Continue reading Sharing the Story
Living Our Days 