Gaining a heart of wisdom
In February, I finished my slow read through the Psalms. One hundred fifty psalms should have taken a mere hundred and fifty days, but I'm sure the math wouldn't come out right if one were to check the dates in my journal. My purpose was to pray my way through the psalms, a goal that… Continue reading Embrace the Subversive Practice of Rest. Celebrate Lent in a World of Hurry and Hustle.
When you read the Psalms, what do you do when your eyes encounter the word selah? Do you pause as the meaning of the Greek word suggests? I’ll go first and confess that I usually don’t, and I think I’m in the majority. What if instead of using selah as a convenient mile marker for… Continue reading The True Purpose of Rest: Let It Make a Change in Your Direction
Sunday Scripture My not-quite-two-year-old grandson has an extensive vocabulary, and one phrase that is serving him well these days is, "Do it self." Instead of holding his mother's hand on the slide: "Do it self." Climbing the stairs or building a block tower with Bam: "Do it self." Clearly, he is both loveable and capable!… Continue reading What is the Meaning and the Method of True Rest?
Sunday Scripture I grabbed first one and then the other Adirondack chair, dragging them both out of the mower's path, all the while thinking, "I don't know why we keep mowing around these things. We never have the time to actually sit in them." Well, the truth is that we have the same twenty-four hours… Continue reading I’ll Get Around to Considering the Lilies in a Minute, but First Let Me…
When is the last time you walked into a room full of women and just fully enjoyed everyone? The talkative and the more reticent? The natural leader and the sweetheart with the gift of helps? The carefully coiffed and manicured and the all-natural girl without a speck of makeup? My natural tendency is to compare,… Continue reading You Can Shatter the Habit of Comparison
David Letterman described life as a late-night TV host with this reflection: "Every night you're trying to prove your self-worth. You want to be the absolute best, wittiest, smartest, most charming, best-smelling version of yourself. If I can make people enjoy the experience and have a higher regard for me when I'm finished, it makes… Continue reading Healing the Divided Self
Rest is a radical practice. In our hyper-scheduled culture that worships productivity, it's easy to slip into a negative attitude toward those who promote a more rest-filled lifestyle, but The Radical Pursuit of Rest is not seeking to add one more thing -- resting! -- to the already full do-list. Author and professor John Koessler asserts that rest… Continue reading Rest: A Remedy, a Relief, and a Gift
Author Marilynne Robinson offers a stunning and succinct summary of the Old Testament in one sentence: "Stop doing this to yourselves!" The endless downward spiral of a nation is difficult to read. The voice of God comes to the people and they disobey. He forgives and rescues them from their mess -- and they rebel… Continue reading An Urgent Rest
Living Our Days 