faith
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Once there were always people. Houses full. Cars in the driveway. The long gravity of family gatherings pulling everyone back to the same kitchen table. Someone always pouring coffee. Someone always arguing about politics. Kids slipping between the legs of adults while the grown-ups talked too loudly. People orbited your life then. Parents. Aunts. Cousins.…
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On the question of fear, ask yourself: Do I live in the fear of what others think? I had a dream last night that I was talking to a cousin I haven’t seen in years. We were chatting about my father. This question was presented, “Do you think he’s in heaven or in hell?” I…
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Times of reflection are the best way to start a week. Ask yourself this question: “What is this dull ache I feel inside? Many of us are prisoners by crimes we did not commit. After those crimes, you bet we do things that keep us in prison but the first blood was often drawn by…
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On the question of fear, ask yourself: Do you live with a love that includes fear? I have had the wrong definition of love for most of my life. Love was always hunted by fear. Love sometimes included fear. What do I mean? In my first marriage of 17 years, love and fear mingled together…
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Daughter, little lamb, soft as dawnlight— the world is a hungry thing, its hands are thieves, its tongue dripping honey, laced with thorns. Once, you were nothing but lullabies and milky breath, your body a temple of baby fat and unbruised trust. Now the wolves call you darling, the merchants weigh your worth in flesh.…
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Life isn’t random to me. It’s a training ground. I’ve come to see that God designed it to shape my character, not to keep me comfortable. Every day puts choices in front of me. Some are obvious, most are small. None of them are neutral. Each one trains my will. I either move toward the…
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Times of reflection are the best way to start a week. Ask yourself this question:“Where do you need justice in your life? Justice is an elusive thing. “The process or result of using laws to fairly judge cases, redress wrongs, and punish crimes.” Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Similar words are fairness, equitableness, integrity and virtue. Who in…
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What exhilarates me about Christianity is not that it comforts me. It does. But more than that, it challenges me. Exposes me. The scale is so high of what Christ demands. God does not come to me like a therapist with a clipboard or a consultant asking for my preferences. He comes as the one…
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Times of reflection are the best way to start a week. Ask yourself this question:“Where do you find solace? This is something that has elluded me for most of my life. In these last few years, I have sought solace in God and he has taught me so many things. I was drawn out of…
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Times of reflection are the best way to start a week. Ask yourself this question: “How do you see the goodness of God? I know many victims of childhood sexual crimes stumble in their faith — doubting that if there were a good God somewhere, he would have stopped their abuse. I know all about…