The kingdom of God, Christ said, “is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how” (Mark 4:26-29). The phrase “he knows not how” troubles me; I want results. I long to see my loved ones … Continue reading When Faith Seems Fruitless: A Lesson from Frog and Toad
It’s time to worry about my “school clothes” again. Don’t get me wrong; I’m blessed to work at a school and I know it. Nobody needs to tell me that it “must be nice” to have a couple of months off in the summer, a week at Thanksgiving, two for Christmas and a spring break … Continue reading Picking out my Back to School Outfit with Help from King Solomon and a Zen Cowboy
"Our ravaged world cries out for hands that bear a radical gentleness." You don't often read a heart-stopping line in an Instagram post, but Sarah Clarkson (@sarahwanders) has a way of matching a golden heart with golden words, and her post spoke to the longing in my heart this morning. One of my neighbors hung … Continue reading Seeking Christ’s Radical Gentleness: Sparrowfare Selections for Holy Week
I like open options. Who doesn’t? Even in my spiritual life. Sure, the Bible gives us a moral roadmap for life's big temptations, but once we accept its framework as truth, a zillion miniscule options are still a matter of choice. A menu of spiritual options presents itself each year the week or so before … Continue reading A Little Litany for Lenten Temptations: Choose Life
This Year, Will 'Hallow' Be Thy App? the blog post I'd stumbled on asked. Indeed it will, I smiled. It already is. A friend shared Hallow with me during Lent two years back. I downloaded the free version, "Hallow Lite" right away. I liked what Hallow offered: meditations, prayers and chant at the ready whenever … Continue reading Why “Hallow” Is my App (Plus Two More for Searching Minds and Growing Souls)
The traumatic loss of her mother when she was four deeply wounded the youngest daughter of French lacemaker Louis Martin. By the age of 13 Thérèse, all frills and curls, was a sensitive "tween" given to tearful outbursts. Pampered by her older sisters and doted on by a father her who called her his “little … Continue reading Descending Ego’s Stairs: St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s Christmas Conversion
Her story fans the flames of hope. It’s a story of recognition that against all odds, God is on the move and priorities must be reordered. It takes place many generations after Abraham. Two Hebrew spies, sent by Joshua to scout out the promised land, secretly enter the walled city of Jericho. They hide out … Continue reading Hope on a Rope: Keeping Vigil with Rahab
He was Simon’s younger brother. He had introduced his tough, zealous brother to Jesus, and Jesus had renamed Simon Peter, Rock. But Andrew, Peter’s younger brother, wasn’t a big name among the disciples. He didn't go up the mountain with Peter, James and John. He was Christ’s humble friend. His heart was pure enough listen … Continue reading A Younger Brother, a Boy’s Lunch and Bread for the Life of the World
He was so old “his body was as good as dead.” Ages ago, or so it seemed to him and his menopausal wife, he’d left the land of the Chaldeans and led servants and livestock on a journey to a land God had promised to show him. “I will bless you,” God revealed to his … Continue reading The Old Man Whose Belief Became a Blessing for us All
Each dark December we center the old Advent wreath on the dining room table, pressing fresh candles into their holders and sprucing the base with evergreen. It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness, we’re reminded. Our hearts are heavy but their burden is light. The wreath’s first candle, all violet … Continue reading The Advent Wreath: A Crescendo of Hope
