Glory

Glory* is one of those weird, special, Christian-ish words that rarely gets used in everyday life. While the official definition has something to do with praise and honor, in my mind it is always connected with light. A long, long time ago, when I lived in Jerusalem, I became friendly with a woman that I […]

Walking into Exile – Mar. 1, 2023

“Exile in our own time is more than enduring strange foods and finding one’s way on unfamiliar terrain. Exile means that you are not at home. You are in a place where you do not want to be, leaving home without a change of address. More to the point, you are in a place where […]

What Did I Expect?

When I agreed to follow Jesus, I had no idea what I was getting into. I was forty years old, and had spent most of my life alternately yearning for and avoiding a deeper relationship with God. When I was in my early teens, I went to a Jewish summer camp in the San Bernardino […]

Chickadee Waits – Nov. 29, 2022

“A chickadee on a winter night burns through all the calories it ate during the day. Before dawn, as soon as there’s light enough to see, the chickadee flutters out, famished, its tiny brain intent on seeds. Tiny, its brain, but bigger now, in Advent, than in spring… Inside that black skullcap his hippocampus is […]