...yawning at home before the fire of life
I was recently in western Michigan at a retreat, and I spent time with Lake Michigan—a living being, a new and subtle friend. The sun on the water, the rocks, the rain, the waves that were loud one day and quiet the next. A lake that curls like the ocean, yet smells like plain water. During […]
Ps. 124:7b …the snare has been broken, and we have escaped. I imagine that when snared animals are set free, if their wounds are not mortal, they bolt into the forest as fast as they can go. Hurt, but free. Once in a while these injured creatures (the ones inside of me, anyway) come shyly […]
A long story came into my head, and for a year I wrote it down. And then I stopped. My perfectionism had tied me on a short leash, and I finally went around the pole enough times that the slack was gone. What unwound me was a writing instructor whose message is “just keep writing.” You don’t have […]
I received a few comments from people taking me seriously, so just to make my intentions crystal clear, I’ll tell you that the following post is meant to be ironic. I guess I need to work on my humor skillz…! Exodus 20:10 Thou shalt not do any work. Who would say that to you? Maybe a […]
Psalm 8:3 (Message) I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous, your handmade sky-jewelry, Moon and stars mounted in their settings. The Genesis creation stories put an order to things: first this, then that. Or no. Hold on. First that, then this. We’re told two stories, and they contradict. I don’t mind, though. The […]
John 20:19-20 On the evening of that day, when the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them…. Here’s how I imagine it. Mary, Peter, and John are telling their stories from the morning, piecing it together—electrified, exuberant. But some in the room are […]
I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy. Tagore
John 17:3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God…. Eternal life starts before we die, and eternal life is to know something, something that changes the way we live. We had a series of powerful storms here in the Bay Area this winter. The rain felt endless, but during […]
What can sustain us through the Winter?
Psalm 63:6 On my bed I remember you— I think of you through the watches of the night. I have a medical test coming up, and last night I lay awake spinning out possibilities. I’m not God, I’m not a doctor, and I don’t possess the facts. Even so, I want to believe I can […]