Gaining a heart of wisdom
Maybe you're old enough to remember an old song from the 1960s with the strong suggestion that "What the World Needs Now Is Love, Sweet Love." While I can't argue with the premise, I would humbly suggest that wisdom is a more immediate need. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfHAs9cdTqg Wisdom presiding over love sounds like an equation with a… Continue reading What the World Needs Now is Authentic Intelligence (AI)
Since April 2024, a story has been unfolding very vividly in my home, in our family, and, therefore, in my life. I've held it close, not sharing it here, but the story ended on December 5th, and I've had some time to process its impact. Back in April, a dear friend was diagnosed with advanced-stage… Continue reading Get Wisdom: It’s a Worthy Pursuit for 2025
We propped the lopsided flannel board against the back of the couch, and my grandkids organized the slightly dogeared images, arguing for a minute about who would get to "do the snake." Apparently, Moses wore a bright pink striped robe in his encounter with the burning bush and didn't have time to change before his… Continue reading Bring the Kids You Love Heart to Heart with the Bible
How long has it been since you sat down and read both Gospel accounts of Jesus's birth?If you're like me, you can sing all the verses of every traditional Christmas carol. But when was the last time you really listened to the words? Sensory overload during the Christmas season is real. It steals our joy… Continue reading Fall in Love with the Christmas Story All Over Again
A hymnal is one of the books I use almost daily in my devotional routine, and I love Thanksgiving hymns in November. Their tried and true words and melodies call up visions of harvested fields, gatherings around a loaded table, and God's "countless gifts of love." I learned one of my favorite Thanksgiving hymns in… Continue reading Thank God for What He’s Given You Now
A beat-up black three-ring binder holds the record of 35 gardening years. I turn to it every spring because it remembers where the tomatoes grew last summer. It reminds me of the serendipitous genius of planting the peas next to the fence—a ready-made trellis! It helps me to foil the ravenous beetles by keeping me… Continue reading Life in the Garden on Your Bit of Earth
November ushers in my favorite holiday. It's the Gratitude Season—days for making a conscious effort to say "Thank YOU!" to God for all the blessings, big and small, that we take for granted most of the time. Psalm 118 begins with gratitude for God's goodness and mercy, and then proceeds to give evidence to back… Continue reading Most of All, Thank You for Being God
In his iconic poem "How to Be a Poet," Wendell Berry sums up all of creation in one lovely sentence: There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places." He cuts directly to the chase of our persistently false categories and my own personal tendency to desecrate the sacred by forgetting… Continue reading The Importance of Prayer in a Sacred Life
Early in the year, I invested several weeks in an attempt to memorize The Nicene Creed. It's not as if I didn't already know what its words reveal about the nature of God. I just wanted those particular words in my tool belt to remind me of all I can and should be remembering and… Continue reading Is the Book of Common Prayer Still Useful Today?
The calendar and the brisk morning air have agreed that summer is over and autumn has arrived. It was time for me to get on the same page and decorate for fall. Understand that this is not a huge production here in this minimalist's life, but I do like a few sunflowers, a few pumpkins,… Continue reading Overcome Frustration with Gratitude and Action
Living Our Days 