Now the angel of YHWH came and sat under the oak at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it (kds: and himself?) from the Midianites. … Then YHWH turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and […]
At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: A hot wind comes from me out of the bare heights in the desert toward my poor people, not to winnow or cleanse— a wind too strong for that. Now it is I who speak in judgment against them. — Jeremiah 4:11-12 […]
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was […]
The data are winning; I am ill. Now that I’m running a fever, I can no longer push off my vague sense of not-right-ness… I am genuinely Not Right. The ripples that chase across my body like sun and cloud reflected in a swift stream belong to a purpose—that of burning off whatever’s ailing me. […]
“…If hard and bitter ways should be our lot, help us to remain steadfast, never complaining about our burdens even in the most difficult days…” — from a prayer by Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt, shared for October 11, 2017 Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord? Awake, do not cast us off forever! Why […]
It wasn’t an engaging instance of the genre called “sermon.” My Sweetie turned to me afterwards and said, “That was a lot like a philosophy lecture.” Well, yes, even at the outset he warned us of what was to come–Dr. Greenaway is, after all, a professor of philosophical theology. My father once inscribed on a […]
I have been trudging uphill this week–thighs straining, calves protesting, asking myself, “Do I actually need to keep going?” and muttering to myself, “I’m much better at swimming.” Metaphorically speaking, that is. (Except for the swimming part; I am much better at swimming than other physical activities.) In the absence of other input, I’m telling […]
My new pastor blogs. Just as you see my words pop up each morning (if you signed up for that), I read his thoughts as I eat breakfast and review my email. Today he looked at his family’s Christmas village, battered in their move last week, and looked at himself, and pointed out how God’s […]
Instead of sitting right down with my keyboard, I spent my first hour sifting all the pages in my planner. I take notes whenever I’m in a seminar or meeting, so the blank pages in the back of my planner silt up over time. The Think Better, Live Better conference; a scattering of webinars; a handful […]
Give the Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you, and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete. –Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, from “Patient Trust“ I suspect I look a lot more patient on the outside than I feel on the inside. Some of this is actual life-learned wisdom: […]
