Gaining a heart of wisdom
I'd never taught with laryngitis before, and it was enlightening, because in losing my voice, I realized what an important tool it has been to me in the communication of content and the conveyance of mood and emotion. A class on parenting is nothing without a few accounts of real life encounters, and even though… Continue reading The Story You Have is the Story Worth Telling
As a true fan of certainty, I am filled with longing whenever I read Old Testament stories in which God shows up in unmistakable clarity. He speaks from a bush on fire, gives audible instructions for travel, and issues a rebuke from between the squared off teeth of a donkey. Even when Samuel, young and… Continue reading How Do You Know if You Are Called to Be a Writer?
What verbs have defined your days of autumn in 2019? There's always something happening in this busy life under the sun, even if it's only talking or thinking--a couple of seriously under-rated verbs, in my opinion. Here at the end of November, I'm looking forward to celebrating around gratitude and pumpkin pie while taking one… Continue reading Concerning the Times and the Seasons: Autumn 2019
"But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you." (I Thessalonians 5:1) Paul's words come embedded with a warning to the church--sort of a, "It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway" message regarding a certain watchfulness and an inspired willingness to live in the present… Continue reading Concerning the Times and the Seasons: Summer 2019
With an empty house, a clean kitchen, laundry on the line (and even a sleeping dog!), it was a perfect afternoon to study or write. Deadlines were looming. However . . . the sun was shining, bath towels flapped and danced on the clothesline outside, and suddenly, while there was plenty that needed doing, the… Continue reading Self-Discipline: A Matter of Grit and Grace
A week of teaching children in a backyard Bible club can have a clarifying effect on one's theology. Just exactly what is it that happened in Zaccheus's heart when he changed from being a dirty rotten tax collector to a repentant and honorable Christ-follower? When Jesus spoke to Saul on the road to Damascus, how… Continue reading Madeleine L’Engle and the Practice of Believing
I cannot abide bouillon in a mug, but I'm always a little sorry about that when I read the opening pages of Madeleine L'Engle's The Irrational Season. She sips from her warm cup, gazes out her two a.m. window at the Hudson River, and begins an Advent reflection that meanders through the liturgical year and the… Continue reading Battlefields and Slums and Insane Asylums
Living Our Days 