Musings — July 2017

Elisabeth Elliot "You can never lose what you have offered to Christ."

The corn's not as "high as an elephant's eye" here on this country hill in Maine, but it's shoulder-high, and I'm sure the raccoons are already planning a picnic. The tomatoes are in blossom and I picked two big bags of green beans today, so canning season has officially begun. And . . . the… Continue reading Musings — July 2017

Standing Ready to Be Amazed

The average human being lives approximately 30,000 days -- which sounded like a long stretch of time until I did the math and discovered that, as of today, I will have lived 20,005 of mine.  Catherine L. Morgan envisions these Thirty Thousand Days as a journey home, traveling on a rattle trap train toward a sure… Continue reading Standing Ready to Be Amazed

Is Reading the Bible Different from Reading Any Other Book?

The Bible is the world's best-selling and most widely distributed book.  A Huffpost Survey indicates that 88% of respondents own a Bible, yet only 1 in 5 Americans read the Bible on a regular basis.  At one end of the spectrum are those who consider it alongside and equivalent to any other ancient text.  At… Continue reading Is Reading the Bible Different from Reading Any Other Book?

Grow Up! (The Practice of Resurrection)

One of my favorite fringe benefits in this mothering life is the broadening of my world.  I routinely listen to conversations about welding and truck repair, have sat through hours and hours of livestock shows, and a few weekends ago, I witnessed my first triathlon.  I watched in awe as, one by one, the participants… Continue reading Grow Up! (The Practice of Resurrection)

Hearing the Stories Anew

It is a trick of human nature that if we walk by the sock under the coffee table enough times, it will eventually disappear.  We will have stopped seeing it.  This is unfortunate for pristine housekeeping practices, and even more so when we're reading the Bible. It's tragic when we've heard the stories so many… Continue reading Hearing the Stories Anew

A Mosaic of Images on Joy and Prayer

I come from a tradition that is suspicious of written or scripted prayers, believing that spontaneity is a sign of sincerity and casting askance glances at those who must borrow the words of others in order to talk to God.  Then I became a mother and realized that not only were my own words in… Continue reading A Mosaic of Images on Joy and Prayer

Finding Rest in Humility

Apparently, in addition to all his better-known gifts, Thomas Jefferson was a gardener. His experimentation with horticulture added over five hundred new fruits and vegetables to the world, but he was never able to successfully cultivate a vineyard at Monticello, his beloved Virginia home.  Here's why:  the French varieties of grapes he coveted had no… Continue reading Finding Rest in Humility

The Enneagram and The Road Back to You

I googled the term the first time I heard it, not even sure how to pronounce it. Enneagram:  "Any - a - gram" Named for a nine-sided polygon, the Enneagram distinguishes and describes nine facets of the human personality, nine different ways of being, nine unique manifestations of the image of God on this planet.  In The… Continue reading The Enneagram and The Road Back to You