Faithful Presence
In Matthew 28:16–20, the resurrected Jesus gathers his disciples on a mountain in Galilee.* This final commissioning begins not with certainty but with ambiguity: “When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.” Even here, at the threshold of resurrection life, doubt remains present alongside devotion. This intertwining of doubt and commitment feels deeply […]
Peace and Pentecost
When Jesus speaks of leaving his peace* with the disciples, he is talking about something much deeper than the absence of violence. Throughout his ministry, he demonstrates that peace is about wholeness, about healing the brokenness that results in the physical, mental, and spiritual illness of individuals; and for mending the brokenness that comes between […]
Keep Them Safe
“Oh Lord, keep them safe” I murmured as the train lurched into motion and family began to slide away, into the past. Stiff and still, they stood in a close group: parents, two sisters, grandparents, great aunt, and a boyfriend. College beckoned across the continent. Unsaid was my hope that they would miss me. While […]
The Holy Spirit Rises*
She enters us not from above but from within. The Holy Spirit does not arrive with thunder, but like our breath, softly. She is the insight before we speak, the knowledge before we act, the quiet shaping of what needs to be said. The Holy Spirit does not descend, she emerges in our empty […]