Divine Reading for the First Sunday of Advent: An old practice for the new year
This Advent our little nondenominational Bible church is taking time on Sunday mornings to sit quietly in the presence of the Word, patterning our time after a medieval practice that blends reading, contemplation, and prayer, called Lectio Divina.
Learn MoreAnother Transfiguration
As on that mountain, as in this year, all our plans are overthrown, and following Jesus doesn’t look the way it did before.
Learn MoreTruly Alien
I was in Lexington, KY, in May of 1977 with my 2 younger brothers when Grandpa Wetzel dropped us off at the theater to see what he said was “Winnie-the-Pooh.”
Learn MoreRevising the Story of the First Thanksgiving
how can we receive the gifts history offers and use them to practice moral reflection, rather than judgement? Here’s the story we read as part of our celebration of an American Thanksgiving with church family and strangers from other shores.
Learn MoreRealists of a Larger Reality
“We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings.” – Ursala K. LeGuin
Learn MorePurity & Love
“If only you saw what I can see, you’d understand why I need your modesty.”
So… virtue = being careful to stay out of the way of the sinfulness of young men. “That’s what makes you beautiful.” Got it.
Learn MoreThe First Thanksgiving: Eight Lessons for Learning from History
Putting together a coherent story from evidence is hard work. No wonder we reach for story first and evidence after, unless the discipline of History can teach us better habits!
Learn MoreA Thanksgiving Book Club
An invitation to read with me through The First Thanksgiving: What the Real Story Tells Us About Loving God & Learning from History .
Learn MoreOzeki’s “Tale” Entangles Readers
First sixteen pages
Seventeen footnotes ask, “Is
She making this up?”
Wounded & Holy
Of course there is woundedness, but there is holiness as well. How the two come together — not which one wins, but how they join — constitutes the unique and profound meaning of one’s life: the emergence out of the maelstrom of the true self, transformed in Christ.
Learn MoreThe Breastplate of St. Patrick
I bind unto myself the power /
Of the great love of the cherubim; /
The sweet ‘well done’ in judgment hour, /
The service of the seraphim, /
Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word, /
The Patriarchs’ prayers, the Prophets’ scrolls, /
All good deeds done unto the Lord, /
And purity of virgin souls.