As If I

As if I could not reach out and be immediately clasped by the warm, strong hand of Mary, (the one from Magdala), leaning forward,  reaching out to me, her bright robes brushing the ground, her face smiling. Embraced and encouraged by one who knows what it means to love God and love yourself — what … More As If I

Confession

Confession. There’s nothing like it. For me, for you, for everybody. I have seen this first hand in children. An unhappy child, needing to confess something, dragging their feet, complaining of a stomachache. When it all finally comes out, amid tears and dramatic flopping on the bed, all is eventually resolved, hugged out, and there … More Confession

Better

The people who walked in darkness     have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—     on them light has shined. – Isaiah 9: 2 Walking in darkness — being in a time of sadness or loss, great ignorance, hardness of heart, oppression, desolation. Seeing a great light – relief from … More Better

“40”

I waited patiently for the Lord;     he inclined to me and heard my cry. – Psalm 40:1 Isn’t music magical? All I have to read is I waited patiently for the Lord and BAM, time travel. I’m back in high school, U2 is singing their iconic song on the radio, and I am encountering new and … More “40”

Ink

I process slowly (made that way, have tried, can’t change it) but I draw in ink because there is no time for erasing. There is time for laboring, but no time for belaboring. If my personality ran the show– mercy, I’d be there forever, tweaking, examining, redoing. Nobody has time for that. The next thing, … More Ink

One of Us

“Moments like this provoke substantial angst in the hearts of those people in congregations like mine who have enjoyed the music of folks like Grant and Gill, who have counted them as ‘one of us,’ and now have to figure out what to make of this.”  – Bart Barber, quoted in Tyler Huckabee’s article posted … More One of Us

Breaking Forth

For waters shall break forth in the wilderness     and streams in the desert … – Isaiah 35: 6 In birth, when the water breaks, this thing is happening. It was a hypothetical, it was a possibility, it might be today – but once the water has broken and the protective barrier around the unborn baby … More Breaking Forth

Teacher Earth

They will not hurt or destroy     on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord     as the waters cover the sea. – Isaiah 11: 9 But, waters don’t cover the sea. The salty water is the sea. So is the earth the knowledge of the Lord, in a … More Teacher Earth