In the anxious of always, this
Before we arise, we are delivered into the new day. How can it be? And yet…
Punch holes in your fears
Fear hovers like fog.It gathers, hesitates, stays.We read what confirms.See, I am right to be afraid;I have reason to fear. Light dimsPulling up our covers, toour hideout, our cocoon, our tent.Safety suffocates…if not self imposed,then self-perpetuated. Punch holes in what frightens you.Not with fists,but with learning,with truth,with prayer,by conversation with a trusted confidante. Pepper your […]
How Long Does it Take to Grow Up?
Mommy, when you are a hundred, will you be as tall as the clouds? This, my little daughter asks me from her seat on the swing in our backyard. Her sweet up-turned face looks past me to the billowing clouds overhead. To her, growing up means growing taller so she can reach the monkey bars […]
The Testimony of Our Senses
You created and it was good. Very good. You said so yourself. So how come right now it can feel bad? Very bad. You didn’t warn us about this. Have you changed your mind? Are you going back on your word? Were you just kidding? I look of the hint of the sunrise, the glow of […]
Suddenly Still
Stillness is a shock to the system. The screeching of tires, the squealing of wheels, the swerving and maneuvering to get out of the way. When the smoke clears and the dust settles, it takes a bit of righting to find balance. Turns out, forward momentum can keep you upright through pretty much any squall, but stillness…now […]
The Body Doesn’t Lie
What good is a body? Its senses offer awareness.Its movements exercise connectedness. Its behavior shows what it is thinking.Its responsiveness proves its attention.Its spontaneity, a display of flexibility.Its skill, evidence of its teaching. Its performance shows that it has practiced.Its coordination calls on its balance.Its competence demonstrates its consistency.Its record shows its preparation. A body grows when it […]
Firm Outside, Flexible Inside
Inflexible, rigid, immovable, carved in stone…There’s a place for these, but in me is not that place. I’m meant to give. My body says so. I’m meant to be flexible, able to bend against the storms of life and not snap. I’m meant to be supple, easily folded, twisted and worked into shape. I’m meant to be […]
Did the Resurrection really happen?
Does it matter if the Resurrection actually happened? This was the question we considered in my adult Sunday School class at a church I used to belong to. I was a regular at Sunday school, where we considered issues of faith and its practice as a matter of course. Sunday school was organized and led […]
This is the day to have a good day
Have a Good Day. Such a hackneyed phrase we use upon parting, offered limply to someone we don’t know well. Why title your book this way? Apparently because Dr. Rilling knew he had something to say in the sermon he chose for the first chapter, its namesake (with added exclamation!). But truth be told, it’s probably also why […]
Perfectly Proportioned
It’s empty now.Empty of the thimble that belonged to Momand the fragile figurine. Gone is thetiny pot with matching tea cups,spattered in blue paint. And themini toilet seat with lifting lid. Even the infant starfishthat accidentally tagged alongin our dive bag is somewhere’s else.So many treasures,gone missing orset aside for later days. It’s empty now.As […]
