Walking on Water
As the deadline for this piece steadily approached, I struggled to find a fresh way into the familiar story of Jesus inviting Peter to join him on top of some stormy waves* and kept coming up with an empty net. One day, an idea floated out of the depths of memory, and I wrote, One […]
Sword of Subtraction
A friend asked me to ponder the question, “What is shaping me?” Then put it another way, “What does a resurrection-shaped life look like?” I find these questions difficult because I realize so much is beyond my control. More and more, I am in new, often unwelcome, territory. Beloved ones die. Health issues increase. Years of comfortable ways of connecting in […]
Lord, Lord, Open Unto Me – Apr. 28, 2023
Open unto me—light for my darkness. Open unto me—courage for my fear. Open unto me—hope for my despair. Open unto me—peace for my turmoil. Open unto me—joy for my sorrow. Open unto me—strength for my weakness. Open unto me—wisdom for my confusion. Open unto me—forgiveness for my sins. Open unto me—tenderness for my toughness. Open […]
If We Listen – Apr. 25, 2023
All experience strips us of much except our sheer strength of mind, of spirit.All experience reveals that upon these we must not finally depend.Brooding over us and about us, even in the shadows of the paradox, there is something more—There is a strength beyond our strength, giving strength to our strength.Whether we bow our knee […]
