The more I can let go of attaching baggage to every little thing that happens, the more I can be set free to allow a day to be what it really is…a gift.
How to Have a “Good” Day
Finding God in the Thin Places (On my Pilgrimage to Ireland)
In Ireland, there is a place outside Dublin called Glendalaugh where I regularly experience a thin place. Tradition has it that Saint Kevin settled there in a cave in the sixth century. It overlooks a lake as black as a moonless and starless night. A forest surrounds it, with ancient trees covered in moss and dark green leaves. Early in the morning a mist hovers above ground, like out of a fairy tale. It’s no wonder that Kevin chose this place for his home.
In Praise of a Wasted Day
Our lives are directed by to-do lists and calendars and productivity apps. I don’t wake with the sun but with a clock. And the things invented in this world to serve me have become my masters. Sometimes, I fear that I have mistaken crossing something off my list for life. Because the point of life is not to be productive.
When Life Doesn’t Turn Out the Way You Want
Listen to this post! "We live the given life, and not the planned.” Wendell Berry, This Day In the movie, Mr. Holland’s Opus, Richard Dreyfuss plays a young composer who has aspirations of writing a major symphony that will become his legacy. Fresh out of college, he takes what he believes to be a temporary …
Continue reading "When Life Doesn’t Turn Out the Way You Want"
Do Not Be Afraid and Eat a Cookie
Listen to this post! In the opening verses of Revelation, perhaps one of the scariest books in the Bible, John wrote this, “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, ‘Do not be afraid.” If you look at other major appearances of …
What Titmice Can Teach Us About Life
Listen to this post! When I feel the need to get away from emails and grading and endless meetings, I drive to Abilene State Park and walk the nature trail. If it has been an especially stressful week, I might walk the roads afterwards, with may hands clutched behind my back while my mind ruminates …
Finding God in the Silence
The first prayer I remember praying as a child was this: Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep.If I should die before I wake. I pray the Lord my soul to take.God bless mommy and daddy and puppy.... And on occasions, before going to sleep at night, …
Journal Reflection: On Time
So take good care of your time. Watch how you spend it, for nothing is more precious. In the twinkling of an eye, heaven can be won or lost. Here’s how we know time is precious. God, the giver of time, never gives us two moments simultaneously; instead, he gives them to us one after …
You Don’t Have to be Angry All the Time
Is it just me, or does it seem like anger and righteous indignation is the default state of things in our world? I’d go so far as to say that in some circles, the attitude is that if you aren’t raging against the machine in some way, then there is something wrong with you. I …
How the Son of a Rural Sharecropper Became an Ambassador for Humanity: The Story of Blind Willie Johnson
At the age of five, George Johnson gave his son Willie a gift that would change his life—a cigar box guitar. As Willie picked it up and began strumming, it soon became apparent that he had a gift. A couple of years later, Willie’s stepmother was caught cheating, and his father beat her out of …
Spilled Coffee on Ancient Scrolls 