Blog
“Keep Your O” – The Christmas Antiphons
The Advent tradition of the O Antiphons used in liturgical worship through prayer and song starts December 17 and continues through December 23. Each of the seven O Antiphons focuses on a prophetic title of Jesus. May this lead us to gaze afresh on Him. To consider these titles is an Advent...
Interrupted
"The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light…" -- Isaiah 9:1 Light interrupts the darkness. Raw places sting. They jab at us in a thousand stabs. Be it physical, emotional, intellectual, relational, or spiritual, when we suffer, the darkness swirls too close. Our hearts ache. Our...
Echoing Her “Yes”
I step into scene that Luke 1 paints. The angel Gabriel informs Mary, a young unmarried virgin, that she’ll give birth to a child. A Child who will be great and be called the Son of the Most High. He’ll have an everlasting kingdom. Mary trembles and asks, “How can this be…since I am still a...
A Week to Get Ready
Next Sunday is New Year’s, you know. What? You think that’s not quite true? You think I may have lost a marble or two or flipped the calendar one too many months? For a good portion of my life, I’ve routinely celebrated three New Year’s celebrations: January 1: Chronological year ...
At the Core
A plethora of muscle and tissue damage led to months of physical therapy a few years ago. Finally released from the grueling three-day-a-week PT schedule, my physical therapist grinned with such joy as she sent me on my way. Little did I know what was in that folder full of exercises to...
I Will Give Thanks
I will give thanks to You, Lord, with all my heart... Psalm 9:1a (NIV) I I will I will give I will give thanks I will give thanks to I will give thanks to You I will give thanks to You, Lord I will give thanks to You, Lord, with I will give thanks to You, Lord, with all I will give thanks to...
Blended Listening
Pondering how to draw near to God today, I notice three themes show up regularly in our latest conversations. Breath prayer. Lectio Divina. Creativity. Lord, what are Your invitations for this day? Be still, daughter. Listen. I pause and I wonder. As one who thinks outside the proverbial...
Found Poem: Words that Delight
Who among us does not have dreams that this year will be different? It is not over, this birthing. There are always newer skies into which God can throw stars. You enter the extraordinary by way of the ordinary. In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Even a thousand miles inland you...
Dream Big, Be Brave, and Hire an Editor
The New York Times Best Seller List began on October 12, 1931. As writers, we dream of hitting the best seller list. Don’t we wish we could do it easily, miraculously with our very first draft? Writing demands much of us and often, so do our dreams. We dream of the easy way: first draft = last...
Friends of the Blind Man at Bethsaida – Mark 8: 22-26
Josiah’s been my best friend since birth, or so our mothers say. I don’t remember us crawling in the dust together or toddling among the olive grove as our mothers gathered olives. What I do remember is how he loved trees, climbing them, even when we were so very tiny. Just when we were big...
Cross Training for Creativity
Any personal trainer will tell you that cross training is good for the body. If you swim, walk. If you walk, lift weights. If you lift weights, run. If you run, swim. You get the drift. Muscles become familiar with the familiar, even a bit sedated, so switching it up invites muscles to respond...
