The Call of Lent (And the Temptation)
You know that empty container inside the back door where you throw your keys? And maybe also your sunglasses and earbuds and a hair-tie and some loose change and whatever…
Love That Never Fails
On Valentine’s Day, it’s easy to think of love as a weak and meaningless force symbolized by pink candy hearts and carnations. But for people of faith, it’s worth remembering…
Five Memoirs to Read Alongside White Picket Fences
Last night, Natasha Sistrunk Robinson, author of A Sojourner’s Truth: Choosing Freedom and Courage in a Divided World, and I read passages from our respective memoirs side by side at…
Silence, Solitude, Stillness, and…Sickness
I usually love Sunday mornings. I sleep until I wake up, and then I make a cup of tea and sit in front of the fireplace and read and journal…
‘Tis the Season for Stress
I woke up at 4:32 this morning. I had set the alarm for 5:30, but my body seemed to think that would not do. There was the knowledge that American…
Jesus Came From A Dysfunctional Family
We had Marilee’s parent/teacher conference yesterday morning. We heard about her leadership in the classroom and the play she is writing with her friend Nathan. She’s kind to the other…
Revisiting: Deep Calls Out To Deep, But I Long To Stay Shallow
Candy, mindless scrolling through my phone, checking email instead of working on something of substance, avoiding exercise and time outside, keeping conversation light instead of asking the deeper and more…
For Those Who Worry
For Those Who Worry I used to have a hard time calling myself a sinner. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe in sin. Conceptually, I’m on board. Sin is everything…
When Serving Others Means Letting Yourself Be Served
So there’s this famous verse in the Bible where Jesus says he came “not to be served but to serve.” It’s a verse that crept out of the Bible and…
The Invitation to Confess
I shared this short thought on Facebook over the summer, but also wanted to share it here.... Historically speaking, I am not good at confessing sin. Here’s my problem: I’m…
