On the Way

by N. Gordon Cosby There are some things we can’t hear until we know we have a problem. We hear what we are ready to hear. I am familiar with a problem which I have to work with in my own life, and I expect some of you have to work with it as well, that has been with me a good part of my life. Is there an answer to this problem, or is it just … Read More

by David Hilfiker Editor’s Note: David Hilfiker is giving a gift to the community by going public about his early stage Alzheimer’s. Here he reflects on a personal moment that speaks also to issues that can arise in community at large. ========== My wife Marja and I were at a silent retreat at Dayspring with others from our faith community this past weekend. We entered the Great Silence after Friday dinner and remained silent until after Sunday morning worship. We … Read More

by Dixcy Bosley-Smith About a year ago I had a spiritual crisis. A wilderness experience right in the middle of the GOP debate on religion and reproductive rights. It was related to a very special invitation to accompany an elderly friend to an event honoring him. Strangely enough, this great privilege thrust me into a place where I felt very alone. As a helplessly pathetic extrovert, I don’t do loneliness well. Don had been my spiritual director and sponsor for entering membership … Read More

by Tom Howarth If a person existed on a steady diet of hamburgers and was suddenly switched to a diet of only fish, the chances are pretty good that he or she would not like it very much. Fish, like other things, can be an acquired taste. Similarly, churches, by and large, are not providing us with a diet of true Christianity but one homogenized with the values of our culture so as to be … Read More

by Kayla McClurg For each of us there comes a moment, or a slow series of moments, when we sense the Great Love of the Universe, the One Who Is Beyond–God–as a personally felt presence. Something cold in us warms, something stiff in us loosens, and we sense a turning, an allowing, a yes. “Yes, I am ready to hear you, God. I am ready to deepen my connection to you and to your family. I am ready to be completely … Read More

by Jim Knight This morning during my prayer time, I read these words of Henri Nouwen in his book Making All Things New: “Our first task is to dispel the vague, murky feelings of discontent and to look critically at how we are living our lives. This requires honesty, courage and trust. We must honestly unmask and courageously confront our many self-deceptive games. We must trust that our honesty and courage will lead us not to despair, … Read More

by Blair Pettyjohn I was once at a friend’s house when she introduced me to a man who was helping her with household repairs. I still remember the kind and gentle spirit of this man; I don’t know many people who have made a better first impression on me. When I was leaving, I noticed his pick-up truck had a bumper sticker that promoted gun ownership. While I disagreed with the bumper sticker, I didn’t … Read More

by Marjory Bankson We are once again standing at a turning point in the life of The Church of the Saviour. The Potter’s House Church has set down its call, and the Eighth Day Faith Community, through the Banyan Tree Mission Group, has picked it up. For some, this time feels like death. For others, it is an exciting time of new birth. When Peter and I arrived at The Church of the Saviour in 1976, we had read all of Elizabeth O’Connor’s … Read More