I recently chatted with a friend who is contemplating a career change. She feels stuck - and maybe a little terrified. She can't sense God's presence or hear his voice right now, but that's not unusual. Whenever we stand on the brink of a significant life transition, poised to cross from the familiar into unknown… Continue reading Thresholds
Recently, I heard someone say that they feel as if their life has been on pause for the past year. The remark caught my attention because I've been thinking about the spiritual discipline of statio, often referred to as the holy pause. In her book Wisdom Distilled for the Daily: Living the Rule of St. Benedict Today, author Joan Chittister… Continue reading Holy Pause
I'm sitting on my back porch, drinking coffee, listening to birdsong and the steady burble of creek waters tumbling over jutted rocks, and, in the distance, staccato bursts of automatic weapon fire - a neighbor's morning target practice. The jarring sound sends chills up my spine. I think of those who warn that we're on… Continue reading Disarming Love
I've been experimenting with an app lately called Daily Prayer. Designed to help develop spiritual rhythms of prayer and reading, it reminds me to stop, pray, read and reflect four times daily - morning, noon, evening, and late evening. There are scripture passages to read and varied forms of prayer throughout each day - sometimes… Continue reading Rhythms
I remember the day I discovered that I was a mystic. At least, it was the day I put a name to the uncomfortable feeling of otherness - that square-peg-round-hole identity I had lived with my entire life. I was wandering through a bookstore, killing time, waiting for a friend who was running late. Perusing… Continue reading When God Shows Up
This is a song we wrote some years back for a show called One Story. Though we've performed it numerous times since then in different settings, for some reason, we've never recorded it in the studio. I was, however, able to extract audio from a video recording of the live performance, so here it is… Continue reading When Beauty Died
With the horror of Jesus' sudden betrayal, chaotic arrest, mockery of a trial, public torture, and execution behind them, what was left for those who had given up everything to follow him? There is not much in scripture that tells us what the disciples were doing on this day, as their Master lay buried in… Continue reading Holy Saturday
I have a love/hate relationship with the art of organization. In my physical life, I have tidied up with Marie Kondo, GTD-ed with Dave Allen, and Swedish death cleaned with Margareta Magnussen, all in fits and starts. While I tend more toward chaos, I enjoy an organized life, where everything is precisely where I expect… Continue reading Disorganized Religion
Sometimes, when my mind spins trying to process too much useless information, when my mental hard drive is full, when external noise overwhelms and unsettles, God sends someone special to remind me what matters. Today was that kind of day. I started early in the morning, running errands, trying to squeeze them all in before… Continue reading Divine Appointment
For the past few weeks, my Sunday evenings have been spent online with a diverse group of people discussing Jemar Tisby's must-read book, The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the White Church's Complicity in Racism. This past week, we talked about, among other things, one of the giants of Christian history, George Whitefield. We know him… Continue reading Trust
Paper Thin Places 
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