Personal
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Introspection — what better way to start a week. I think this is an interesting question. How do we know what secrets are buried in our heart? Is it pain? Is it mayhem? What stirs beneath my actions? What makes me choose one way or another? What is under my fear? These are the secrets…
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I sometimes wonder if the greatest spiritual discipline is not fasting or silence or waking up at 5 a.m. to read Greek words out of a study Bible. I think maybe it’s just staying. Staying married when the house smells like coffee grounds and old arguments. When love stops performing tricks for you. When two…
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The longer I’m a Christian, the less sin looks like rule-breaking and the more it looks like wounded people destroying what they love. I grew up around criminals, addicts, predators, liars, men swollen with rage, women hollowed out by survival. Pedophiles. Cowards. Violence sitting at the dinner table like another relative passing the potatoes. Everybody…
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Some People Were Handed a Soft Start and Still Feel Lost There is a kind of childhood that is carefully managed. Not perfect. Not wealthy. Not without problems. Just… buffered. Parents step in early. Problems get absorbed before they reach the child’s skin. Schedules are maintained. Emotions are softened. Failures are negotiated, explained away, or…
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A curtain call occurs at the end of a performance when one or more performers return to the stage to be recognized by the audience for the performance. All families of incest demand performance. If you stay part of the system, you must act. You have to pretend the abuse did not happen. You stay…
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They tell me I’m wasting my breath—picking at scars that should be hidden under sleeves. As if we are best served by silence, wearing smiles like masks stitched too tight, our eyes peering out like ghosts from behind glass. These are the ones who believe in tidy appearances, that betrayal and pain can be buried…
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Come into my home with me today, join me in my prayer life, and my daily reading. Welcome! A Jewel: God’s love separates. So many religious folks like to believe that unity is the only message in the Kingdom of God. Not so! His love often separates us for protection, for growth, for nourishment and…
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Teachers like Joyce Meyer and Beth Moore promote a form of absolution to sexually abusive parents. I would argue that absolution is not theirs to give. ab·so·lu·tion/ˌabsəˈlo͞oSHən/ Formal release from guilt, obligation, or punishment. Definition from oxford language It goes on to say, “an ecclesiastical declaration of forgiveness of sins. Used in a sentence, “the priest administered…
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Oh, my love, I know. The world is a dark theater, and the players lie so beautifully, so effortlessly, that you begin to wonder if truth is just a ghost story we tell to comfort ourselves. The cynics whisper in your ear like tired prophets, saying: Nothing changes. The liars win. The strong devour the…
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Times of reflection are the best way to start a week. Ask yourself this question: “Do I believe my life is getting better? I used to live with the conviction that life included pain and suffering. I didn’t know how to get beyond that. Addiction stiffled me enough to get through but I had a…