hope
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possibilities
I followed the snaking Gallatin River on 191, driving beside the water, on either side of me tree covered mountains and cliff faces, the sporadic homes and all the vehicles going somewhere. I played a song and prayed. It was a real prayer. Honest. Broken. Those kinds of prayers are rare, hard to come by Continue reading
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belonging
“…The event contained in the affirmation of God is more important than the belief in God…Belonging first, followed by behavior, followed last and least, by belief.” – Peter Rollins We belong before we believe. The experience of belonging leads to behavior and belief if we’ve experienced the real thing. We may arrive at the right Continue reading
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room
You invite me to your table but “I’m not hungry I’m not thirsty” I tell you. I have had everything here before. I am no longer hungry or thirsty for what I have long had my fill of. “But there is still room for you” I hear and I know it is true. But is Continue reading
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Week 52: a new year
Give yourself room this year. To grow, risk, learn, doubt, question. To try something new. To put yourself out there. Move on from anything that’s draining life and health. More than making resolutions, just be brave enough to do what’s best for you (not someone else), and to be who you are without having to Continue reading
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Week 51: waiting
I’m familiar with waiting. I remember spending a 12 hour “layover” at a city train station in Mandalay, Myanmar many years ago, having already taken a 12 hour train ride on an “ordinary class” train, with a 14 hour train ride ahead of me to go further north. (“Ordinary class” trains had hard, uncomfortable, nearly Continue reading
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Week 49: detachment (part 2)
Healthy detachment is freeing. Of course, some level of attachment is required for true love and relationship and community. But not the kind of attachment that says, “I need this…I cannot live without this…I must have this…without this I will not be okay…” A healthy combination of detachment and attachment means: “This thing/person is good…I Continue reading
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Week 48: detachment
We are not in control, and must learn to surrender and let go of unhealthy desire and attachment. Insecurity and fear and perfectionism and resentment and worry and victimhood dominate us because of our constant need to control a situation or outcome. All we can do is make the best of what we have. Whatever Continue reading
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Week 46 / 47: meanwhile
Meanwhile: “in the intervening period of time” The word “meanwhile”… in the meantime, not yet, in between… Do you ever feel in a perpetual state of “meanwhile”? Waiting and hoping but always only that—waiting and hoping without seeing or knowing what you’re waiting and hoping for. For some of us, it’s something (or someone) very Continue reading
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Week 30: alone(ness)
Why do certain days seem to haunt some deep part of us? A sense of loss pervades. Or of losing something not yet received. The belief that what we desire will never come to pass. How does one cease to feed this beast? Everyone is alone in the world. We are only to have pieces Continue reading
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Week 20: “now and not yet”
I have always been aware of the “now and not yet” of following Jesus. I am reminded that it’s okay to still feel unsettled, somewhat incomplete, and a little discontent; because things are not (yet) as they should be. Everyone knows this. Some recognize it more than others. It is something of a prophetic understanding—those Continue reading
a kingdom built of seeds 