I was gifted a marvelous book for my birthday: The Night is Long but Light Comes in the Morning by Catherine Meeks. It is a book of meditations in thinking about racial healing. What a way to begin the new year in my life!
Continue reading “Do we want to be healed?”Three key verses to identify my life
The more I read through the Bible, the more I want to strip down all the periphery we have made Christianity and come to its essentials. I have loved Paul and his writing more and more over the decades of walking with Christ. There is a vision he truly saw beyond his time that I have found compelling. There have been numerous times I have been reading one of his letters and said out loud, “I want to SEE what you saw, Paul!”
Continue reading “Three key verses to identify my life”Missing the first birthday
This will be the first birthday for my dad since his death. He would have been 84. We’ve gone through other firsts.
First Father’s Day. First Christmas.
The firsts are awful. There isn’t a guarantee they get better. This just first.
Continue reading “Missing the first birthday”Helpful habits for our lives
It’s not just about the new year and “resolutions.” It’s about building good habits that create deep change over time.
Tish Harrison Warren offered some wonderful tips for life change in this column.
Some things that stood out to me:
Continue reading “Helpful habits for our lives”The deepest connection
My reading is currently in Galatians. The reading in Galatians 2 again highlights what I’ve been drawn to in my overall Scripture reading: what IS and what is NOT included in “being a follower of Christ.”
Continue reading “The deepest connection”Is the point of reading to retain?
A particular article I read recently in Christianity Today isn’t available on the web yet, but it caught my attention. Two pastors were having coffee and one was talking about his reading passion. The other pastor listened, but then said with a lot of frustration he just couldn’t read. He did very little because he didn’t retain it. He felt reading was a waste of his time.
Continue reading “Is the point of reading to retain?”Apathy and our current spiritual malaise
So, I ran across this book on overcoming apathy and thought it might be a good read, but I just didn’t care enough to buy it.
Actually, I came across an article about a book on apathy, suppressed a yawn, and began reading. Before long I was introduced to an old term I had studied years ago: acedia.
Continue reading “Apathy and our current spiritual malaise”A prayer for the new year
A simple prayer I picked up from Richard Foster in his latest book, Learning Humility. It’s a good one for reflection this year. My personal goal is to turn to this prayer often in 2023.
Loving Lord Jesus, I humbly ask you would:
Purify my heart,
Renew my mind,
Sanctify my imagination, and
Enlarge my soul.
AMEN
Two forgotten heroes in the early Jesus narrative
Two people I am fascinated with in the early narrative of Jesus: Simeon and Anna. Both waiting. Both longing. Both rewarded after decades of waiting.
Continue reading “Two forgotten heroes in the early Jesus narrative”Pope Benedict XVI — 1927-2022
“Quite soon, I shall find myself before the final judge of my life. Even though, as I look back on my long life, I can have great reason for fear and trembling, I am nonetheless of good cheer, for I trust firmly that the Lord is not only the just judge, but also the friend and brother who himself has already suffered for my shortcomings, and is thus also my advocate, my ‘Paraclete.’ In light of the hour of judgement, the grace of being a Christian becomes all the more clear to me. It grants me knowledge, and indeed friendship, with the judge of my life, and thus allows me to pass confidently through the dark door of death.” — Pope Benedict XVI
Apprentice 2 Jesus 