Category: Uncategorized

  • Re-imaging the manger scene

    I can’t imagine that this classic scene that we’ve always seen (above) really ever happened. I know, it’s so nice to think of icons like this in a romanticized setting but scholars believe Joseph, Mary, and newborn Jesus remained in Bethlehem at least several months before they were forced to flee to Egypt. This would’ve allowed…

  • Bigger inside than the outside

    “Yes,” said the Lord Digory, “Its inside is bigger than its outside.” “Yes,” said Queen Lucy. “In our world too, a stable once had something inside it that was bigger than our whole world.” I love the Chronicles of Narnia! They have done so much to form my faith and to reform my insides. In…

  • Children of Abraham

    Jews, Muslims, Christians. ALL Abrahams children. You remember Abraham. Patriarch of all three of these great religions. One family… currently divided. The picture above is of his tomb in Hebron on the West Bank of Palestine. I have personally stood before this great holy site (Abraham’s bones are below these cenotaphs in the Cave of…

  • Second President Blessing

    I have been marinating in the beauty of aged and toothless John Adam’s heart and mind. My thanks to author David McCullough for an absolutely striking biography of the second president that has brought President Adams to life for me. Prior to my exposure to the second president’s life story, I had been studying the…

  • Longings

    I have been thinking a lot. Or maybe you could say I’ve been longing a lot. We all long… But often we aren’t aware of it. I am trying to be much more aware of my longing. In fact, unconscious longing can be dangerous for those of us living the gloriously human condition. I have…

  • Judgement or love? What are my default settings?

    This morning I find myself wondering where my heart starts as I engage the world each day. Do I begin with a heart that is open and offering grace and understanding as I come out of the starting blocks or am I looking to find a “hook to hang” an experience or relationship on? Am…

  • Is the universe random or purposeful?

    This hugely important question begs several other vital questions that boggle our finite brains. These are questions that consume many people’s lives, questions that many philosophers and theologians ask but do not believe will ever be answered. Often we slap an unexamined answer up on the blackboard without thorough examination. Here are a few of…

  • Attachment distress

    Attachment is committed connection. It is perhaps, our deepest and most primal need. When one feels attached, they sense their partner’s commitment to move deeper and deeper into their own definition of intimacy. Distress enters the picture when one partner feels or expresses anxiety over the felt loss of intimacy. Attachment distress is often relieved…