In the wake of Hurricane Michael—the Category 4 Storm that struck Florida on October 10—my community is a mess. It looks like a game of pick-up sticks was played on a cosmic scale, using 100-foot tall pine trees and concrete power poles. And we were the lucky ones! West of us, it’s not a matter of debris and inconvenience, there …
<<As this blog post goes live, Hurricane Michael is nearing landfall not far from my home.>> A couple of weeks ago I changed the background on my phone. As Hurricane Michael invades my part of the world, it feels especially apropos. I changed it to an image of a Jack Pine forest. I’m certainly not an arborist or horticulturist or even …
Psalm 124 has a line in it I really like. Overall, the Psalm is about how God rescues the Old Testament nation of Israel over and over again. It is a celebration of God’s presence and mercy. The Psalmist says: “We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken and we have escaped. …
Sometimes, I’m not a good listener. Occasionally my mind will wander or my phone will distract me, but more often, I’m not a good listener because I’m thinking about how to react to what I’m hearing. It could be that I’m thinking through what I will say or how to relate to your story, but I also have to concentrate …
“Do you kiss your mama with that mouth?” is one of my favorite sassy phrases. It’s a great retort that can simultaneously correct and teach and, when properly intoned, can even add a dash of shame. It turns out, this phrase has biblical roots. Okay, not really. That’s too much of a stretch. But, there is a passage in the …
They “begged” Jesus to heal the man (Mark 7:31-37). Scripture says he was “a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech” (Mark 7:32). Jesus told the man’s ears and mouth to “Be Opened.” In Mark’s characteristic style, we are told that Jesus took action “and immediately the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke …
Another title for this blog post could easily have been “Rules & Fools Like Me.” I’m a rule-follower. When I cook, I like to start with a recipe. When I buy something, I like to know the return policy. When I sign a contract, I focus on two things—what I’m expected to do and the cancellation terms. Come to think …
How do we respond when Jesus says something crazy? If you’ve read thru the Gospels, or even just a Gospel or two, you’ve probably noticed that Jesus says some crazy things. He says we should turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:38) and we should be born “again” (John 3:3). Jesus tells us to “give to EVERYONE who begs from [us]” …
There is a well-known (and yet completely unknown) group of people with a lot of wisdom. They. They say honesty is the best policy and I think They are right. Sometimes, however, we use honesty as an excuse or a cover for—dare I say it so bluntly—rudeness. We turn honesty into a weapon against others when really we should use …
Sometimes, looking in the mirror brings us face to face with things we’d rather not see. The mirror shows us our flaws up close and personal. Looking in a spiritual mirror can do the same thing. In Psalm 51, the Psalmist has looked in the spiritual mirror and come face to face with the ugliness that lies within: “I know …