Gaining a heart of wisdom
After graduating from college, I moved to the biggest city in Maine for my first "real job," bringing with me a wardrobe fashioned around college life south of the Mason-Dixon. Clearly, my flimsy sandals would not fit my new life as a ministry professional. However, it soon became apparent that my feet were not going… Continue reading Correcting the Soundtrack in Your Head
Wendell Berry poured this wisdom into the mouth of one of his fictional characters: “Telling a story is like reaching into a granary full of wheat and drawing out a handful. There is always more to tell than can be told.” (Jayber Crow) This is always the nature of story, and in Wounds Are Where… Continue reading Drawing Out a Handful of Light
If it is true that, as we age, we become even more of whatever we have been all our lives, then Luci Shaw is becoming more and more difficult to “shelve.” A poet and essayist well into her eighties, she continues to tackle topics ranging from quantum mechanics and the incarnation to the haecceity** of… Continue reading Decoding the Beauty in the Universe
Imagine the shrill ring of the phone and the jolt into wakefulness. The voice in your ear carries unthinkable news. Is it possible that you are still dreaming? "Your son has been been arrested." "The charge is murder. The victim: his wife's ex-husband." As daylight comes, you learn more. Your son was desperate to protect… Continue reading Desperate to Hear God’s Voice
Little Rock, Arkansas was the Sunday stop on the last leg of our cross-country trip. I don't recall the denomination of the church we visited, but I sure remember its personality: the two-handed handshakes, the over-the-top meet-n-greet . . . and the dear woman who sat next to me and kept touching my arm whenever… Continue reading A Guide for Living Well as an Introvert of Faith
Teach Us to Pray guides Scripture-centered family worship throughout the year.
Orthodoxy is the foundation to everything.
Story has a way of capturing the imagination. Biography brings theological principles, life lessons, and spiritual wisdom to life as I bear witness to the grittiness, lived-out in a transformed journey. Poor choices and besetting sins become cautionary sign posts that might just keep me from going over the same cliff. Karen Wright Marsh shares… Continue reading The Marks of a Sinner’s Saintly Story
Following the writings of the prophet Jeremiah has been a challenge this year. So far, it's been seventeen chapters of lament tempered by steadfast faith -- along with words of judgment interspersed with glorious promises of restoration. It shouldn't have surprised me then when Jeremiah 17 took a sharp curve in the road at verse… Continue reading Who in the World Am I? (Dating the Enneagram)
Part of the delight of spending time with my tiny grandson is that he takes nothing for granted. Nothing. "Bam, why bubble pop?" "Because you stood on it." "Why?" Well, good question. Why indeed, but our conversations routinely run on in this vein of relentless curiosity. They move forward not because "Bam" comes up with… Continue reading The Spiritual Practice of Curiosity
Living Our Days 