Once there was a people who walked in darkness. They had known God once, but God had been silent for a long time. The golden age they lived in had not brought them joy. They were ruled by a wealthy, progressive, but corrupt government. Their own leaders used religion to wield power, to build up … Continue reading Advent, Week One (Hope): Light
I know a lady who is waiting to die. She has been waiting to die for a long time now. She decided, years ago, that she was done living. She was tired. She had had enough. She just didn’t care anymore, and she was done. She just wants to be with Jesus, as she puts … Continue reading How we are all waiting to die
“I worry too much. Autumn trees ask me not to worry. They, like Jesus, suggest trust rather than worry. So often in autumn I want to go lean my head against a tree and ask what it feels like to lose so much, to be so empty, so detached, to take off one’s shoes that … Continue reading Listen
You stand between your people and a raging sea. An army chases you. The crowd shouts, demanding, panicked, angry. They wail. They accuse you. Yesterday you were their hero. Today you wonder if they might toss you in those frigid waves. You stand at the edge of a pit, looking down into deep shadows. Feline … Continue reading The Problem of the Gift
We ask hesitantly, in the dark, ashamed. We ask brazenly, shaking fists, enraged. We feel guilty. Or demanding. Or justified. We seem to think God is shocked at our why, taken by surprise. Perhaps a little miffed. But I wonder if this is true. Most of us have had experience with children asking endless whys. … Continue reading Why
Joining the Five Minute Friday writing community thanks to my friend Amy Taylor, who you can visit over here. Each Friday writers receive a prompt to write on for five minutes. A good exercise for someone like me, whose head is always full of words that seldom find their way to the screen, and whose … Continue reading Success = fear + hope
I have grown used to flatness. I breathe in deep to absorb the pitying stares the careful words hands on my forehead. Breathe them in, push them down flat. Breathe in the wagging heads, tongue clucks, whispered judgments merciless assumptions. Shove them down, beat them to submit to my rage. Maybe it is … Continue reading Paralytic (from Mark 2)
Mark gets overlooked at Christmas. Mark’s is not a good Christmas gospel. Not like Luke, the most read and quoted Christmas account, full of wonder and story and miracle. Matthew is a close second to Luke, filling in some of the gaps in the story. And John shows the coming of Christ in a loftier … Continue reading For those facing the impossible this Christmas
So Advent has begun, and we are to celebrate his coming. We are told to celebrate that he came, so long ago, into our story. We are told to celebrate that he comes now, every moment, into our lives. We are told to celebrate that he will come finally, ultimately, to set his world … Continue reading How his coming should change us
View from the Valley 