Gaining a heart of wisdom
The rhubarb has made its wrinkled and deep green appearance, and it's time for me to plant the peas, the annual spring gamble for this risk-averse gardener. I've driven stakes into the warming soil, because when I opened the package, I realized (too late!) that I had purchased seeds for a variety that requires a… Continue reading Beginners All Our Life
So many books. So little time. Tozer is my "undiscovered author," and it's not as if I haven't delighted in brief quotations of his words -- a mix of the understated and the profound. It is even true that portions of his sermons read online have jolted me awake to God's holiness and drawn me closer to the… Continue reading A.W. Tozer: Thoughts on Prayer
Students had assembled for an October chapel service as several dozen faculty members strode to the front of the Great Hall bearing symbols of their work -- a laser in the hands of a physicist, clay in the hands of an artist, spreadsheets borne by an economist. Each offering was placed on the stage, transforming… Continue reading The Practice of Listening
We refer to them as "spiritual disciplines," and then we stiffen our upper lip -- all the while fumbling tentatively for our boot straps. Then, we proceed to dismiss the more rigorous of the lot (fasting, meditation) as pertinent only to high-power spiritual giants, and it turns out that we've got the wrong idea after all,… Continue reading Habits of Grace
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
People and books reserve the right to surprise us, and it's a real delight when both happen at the same time. I opened the pages of Barbara Hughes's book expecting the equivalent of a heart-to-heart over a mug of steaming tea, an open Bible and a warm sharing of practices that have held us close to… Continue reading Strength Training for Countercultural Women
The word "listen" appears in Scripture over fifteen hundred times, and the most frequently voiced complaint in the Bible is that the people don't listen. It may well be the most frequent complaint of present-day mothers, also, and, as a mother of four, I was in love with Adam McHugh's The Listening Life before I… Continue reading The Gift of Listening
Five and a half years ago our family piled into a mini-van and drove cross country -- Maine to Seattle, south to Arizona, and then in a zig-zagging joy ride back to Maine. Four boys, two parents, one tent, six sleeping bags, and five weeks of freedom on the road. It becomes a better memory… Continue reading Grant Us Grace to Ask
Author, Priscilla Shirer, had collected her grandmother, buckled her into the passenger seat, and embarked on a junk food run for French fries and vanilla milkshakes. Knowing that her grandmother was a faithful prayer warrior with a notebook full of specific requests and written prayers that she added to daily, Priscilla queried, "Why do you… Continue reading So You Won’t Forget
How has Gary Thomas sold half a million copies of a book about marriage that does not promise readers a happier marriage? No promise of six steps to more intimate pillow talk. No descriptions of three tips for more zip. The fact is that Sacred Marriage - The Revised Edition talks about the challenges and disappointments that… Continue reading Marriage: A Spiritual Discipline?
Living Our Days 