Gaining a heart of wisdom
Not in the curl of smoke from cozy fire; Not in the fir trees, cloaked in snowy white; Nor chickadees in formal dark attire; Not in the wintry stars' pinpricks of light; Neither in the window candles, spilling Their golden rays across the powdered ground; Nor in the crimson berries' vivid contrast To holly's green… Continue reading Christmas Eve on the Hill
For many, the Christmas story stands alone, lifted with huge parentheses out of the New Testament -- maybe delivered in Linus's hushed boy soprano, and then tucked away with the durable resin nativity set and the white twinkly lights until next year. It's a great story, so it's easy to see why authors of every creed… Continue reading Words About THE WORD: Recommended Reads for Christmas
When we think of God, and angels, and The Angel, we suppose ineffable light. So there is surprise in the air when we see him bring to Mary, in her lit room, a gift of darkness. From "The Overshadow" Accompanied by Angels According to Luke 1:35, the mystery of the incarnation happened in shade, and… Continue reading Made Flesh
Wait until the sun is summer high, On an orange day after someone has said, "Tomorrow, Let's go to the beach!" Then, whir the mixer And scrape the bowl. Alternate wet and dry. Breathe cocoa dust and fire up the oven. Grease every pan you own -- Every one, because you will need them. When… Continue reading Recipe for a Whoopee Pie Day
When I first heard Luci Shaw described as "a poet sorting socks," I was just coming into my own career as a sock-sorter. Her poetry, harvested from the everyday of enjoying nature, relating to family and friends, and living the questions about her faith was soul-food in the midst of all the sorting out that… Continue reading Luci Shaw — A Poet for Life
"They laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and bars. "* Not exactly the stuff of which a "life verse" or a New Year's Resolution is made, But five times in Nehemiah's counter-clockwise tour of the wall we are confronted: What's the point of a walled city if the gates are not… Continue reading Just One Thing: Gates
In Chapter X of John Owen's The Mortification of Sin, he urges his readers toward a "clear sense" of: 1. The guilt of sin -- "It is one of the deceits of a prevailing lust to extenuate its own guilt." 2. The danger of sin -- "Of being hardened by deceitfulness; . . . of some great temporal… Continue reading Getting a Clear Sense — A Letter to a Much-loved Child
In Chapter Five of The Mortification of Sin, John Owen bends over backward to delineate for his readers what mortification of sin is NOT, the better for us to recognize it for what it is: a miracle of grace. This seemed like a good place to pause for a review of the content up to this point. … Continue reading That We Be Not Mistaken
Living Our Days 