A republishing of a post from December, 2011, at the request of a friend. Christmas has more sadness woven in the lining now for me than it used to, and I would have written this post differently today than I did 7 Christmases ago. But I’m glad I wrote it then and not now, because […]
Jesus and Weddings and the Surprise of the Holy Spirit (Still)
My writing through the book of John stalled last Autumn, when I came to the wedding at Cana. Just before Christmas I made a bit of progress, writing a post about the symbolism of the wine, connecting with it through Advent, but those words just made it to the draft folder. There was something I was […]
Seeing Through a Glass Darkly
I’m sitting with my fingers posed above keys, my eyes locked on the cotton flying about the street just outside the window. Bits of fluff, dodging cars and leaping through branches, and then, before my eyes, a girl. The tips of her hair are white. The white bleeds upward into purple. The purple becomes white […]
Joy and Delight and A God Who is Better Than I Imagined
Today I’m floored by the preposterousness of God, in daring to invite us into enjoyment, celebration and joy. We are studying Jennie Allen’s book Proven, which, through delving into the gospel of John, is basically aiming straight for the heart with the intention of undoing all the things that hold us together but just aren’t […]
Jesus is working; We can rest
But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” I take a lot of comfort in this verse this morning. There are impossible situations at every turn, messy relationships, messy health, messy politics, messy everything. My heart and mind wake up feeling messy with other people’s strife. My email is messy […]
All My Desire Is Before Thee
O LORD, rebuke me not in Your wrath, And chasten me not in Your burning anger. For Your arrows have sunk deep into me, And Your hand has pressed down on me. There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation; There is no health in my bones because of my sin. For […]
Treating Others With Respect and Trust: Spiritual Boundaries, Part 5
…love always trusts, always hopes… The first evidence of God acting with self-constraint in relationship to us is in the second chapter of Genesis. The story of the Fall teaches us – among many lessons – that God treats us with respect, and does not force or coerce us to come into relationship with him. “All of […]
The Self-Restraint of God: Spiritual Boundaries Part 4
At the end of the last post I wrote: It makes me feel deeply safe to know that God does not force his love upon me, to know he does not force himself upon me. This is the deepest of all our theologies, to me, this one that says, quite simply, God is love. Love […]
Love Is A Respecter of Persons: Spiritual Boundaries, part 3
(post #13 for the Write 31 Day Challenge) see all posts here Two mornings ago, on the last morning of our retreat, my sister and mama and I were watching the waves. “The ocean waves always make me think of Jesus’ unrelenting love for us,” my mom said. “No matter what, his love just keeps coming, pursuing us, […]
Contrite and Lowly: Sacred Smallness, Real Life Is Now
(post #9) see list of all posts here What does it mean to be contrite and lowly? How can a God who inhabits eternity also inhabit my heart? About 9 months ago I did a word study on Isaiah 57:15, because I was so struck by the description of a God who dwells in “a high and […]
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