Unforced Rhythms of Life

Unforced Rhythms of Life

We are a besieged people. For thirty months we’ve been mandated to: close down, isolate, mask up, sanitize, sanitize, sanitize, get tested, quarantine, social distance, stay home, and gobs more. Then, we’ve dealt (and continue to deal) with global political mayhem,...
UPDATE: Vineyard East Conference in New Jersey

UPDATE: Vineyard East Conference in New Jersey

Dark, roiling clouds turning mid-afternoon into premature nightfall. Torrents of driving rain, flashes of lightning, thousands of crawling vehicles apprehensively advancing through the ‘car wash,’ cell phones lighting up, red, with a siren warning of flash flooding....
Got Speed-dial?

Got Speed-dial?

As a non-DIY guy, it excites me to talk with someone who knows exactly what to do in any given project. When a seemingly straightforward task hits, what for me, is a shut-the-whole-thing-down glitch, and then hearing these wunderkinds ponder their way through...
Who reads the last page first?

Who reads the last page first?

Our story, recap: The serpent lied. Adam disobeyed. God declared war. Here we are. (The serpent is still lying. Man is still disobeying. God’s war against lies and disobediences still goes on. And we are still here – in the thick of it.) God loved. Second Adam obeyed....
The God Who Plays*

The God Who Plays*

Author, Jill Weber, refers to God, in one of her books, as Jehovah Sneaky. She thinks He is so aware of her skittish tendency to shy away from Divine Encounters that he lies (lovingly, of course!) in wait and delights in ‘ambushing’ her in moments when she’s...
In the still small voice…

In the still small voice…

Sighting a whale arching up out of the water just to splash back down. Peering a mile down from the rim of the Grand Canyon to its floor. Attending a baby’s birth. Hushing in the stalactite cathedral stillness of a grotto. Craning to look up above the cloud layer to...
A Tale of Two Lives

A Tale of Two Lives

A writing assignment is given to two classrooms of nine-year-olds in two very different locations. It is to describe what is great about where they live, what they do, what they eat, etc. The essays will be sent to schools in foreign countries to educate students...
In Lieu of Flowers…

In Lieu of Flowers…

Of all possible topics to focus on, few are as likely to elicit as wide a range of responses as this: anything death related. On the one hand, there are those who are obsessed with it, wearing jewelry and/or tattoos of skulls, crossbones, skeletons, werewolves,...
 May I Have the Envelope, Please?

 May I Have the Envelope, Please?

In a bygone era, one could receive a paper-and-envelope invitation, delivered by one’s mail carrier, directly into one’s mailbox (seriously, this was a thing). They would be for various occasions: birthdays, anniversaries, baby showers, wedding showers, weddings,...
Can you feel the love?

Can you feel the love?

‘rote’ – the use of memory usually with little intelligence; routine or  repetition carried out mechanically or unthinkingly; a joyless sense of order. It’s disturbing, to say the least, if our Bible knowledge has been imparted according to the above...