Photo by George Pagan III on Unsplash I "like" a lot of pages on Facebook and other social media --- even those I don't necessarily "like" because I want to follow the ideas, interact with them, and gain information and insights. Some of my "likes" may be endorsements, but that cannot be assumed. Just like real life, if we do not interact with people who have differing perspectives, we will find ourselves in entirely circular and narrowing conversations where we have no relevance to anyone else except the people in our shrinking room ... and eventually, just to the person... Continue reading

One day, I was cleaning my office and I swept a small mountain - well maybe a molehill, but you know how we make them grow - of pennies off my desk, into my hand, and into my pocket. What surprised me was my level of annoyance at the bother of it all. That surprises me. I reflected at length once, in a blog, on "Lessons from a Penny." That was ten years ago, the same year I first reflected these reflections. Have you ever wondered this? I did: HOW MANY PENNIES THERE ARE IN AMERICAN LANDFILLS. I was amazed... Continue reading

I need a break from making too much sense or whatever else goes along with that. Continue reading

No one physician can specialize in everything about your particular body. There are not enough hours in a week. You are unique and you are your own primary care coordinator. Continue reading

Not everyone agrees on everything, but we still are and must forge, a community. Continue reading

God of Wholeness and Holiness, grant me wholehearted prayer, be it cry or sigh ... or, perchance, a shout of joy! And may I, in wholeness, find holiness and In holiness, wholeness. I come with ... whole heart, undivided, undeterred, un-distracted .... Grant it, LORD and may I ... ENTER. I cry. You hear. I call. You save. It is ... well before dawn and my heart is awakened. May I hear your testimonies and statutes and ... ...obey! I rise. I cry. I hope. 'With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O LORD! I will keep your statutes.... Continue reading

All human power, though necessary and deserving respect, is corruptible and demanding of restraint. Continue reading

We are free. Nothing can stop us or hinder us from being servants of Jesus who serve Him by serving others. Continue reading

It's OK to say, "I don't know for sure. Ask me again later. Continue reading

An outline you can either use or apply to your own life --- or both - with some musical encouragement. Continue reading

" ... the land mourns ..." Continue reading

This image was originally posted to Flickr by quinet at https://flickr.com/photos/91994044@N00/25871122682. It was reviewed on 24 September 2016 by FlickreviewRand was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0. Father, I am fresh out of profundity. Some days I feel like Popeye before he eats his spinach. Someday. I feel like I have just swallowed the whole can. Always. I know, it is You who make me strong. and it is you who are making me, me. I am what I am, but I am not Popeye, so that is not all that I am. I am not... Continue reading

Photo by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash In one of his better moments, King David had some insight into how to handle criticism: "Be not silent, O God of my praise! For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues. They encircle me with words of hate, and attack me without cause. In return for my love they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer." -Psalm 109:1-4 (ESV) Then, he goes downhill a bit and starts praying curses on his enemies. But then, he comes back to his own feelings. He is being honest... Continue reading

Photo by Malte Wingen on Unsplash "But they would not listen," must precede a history of all the reasons they(we) should listen. How many of conjunctions must be inserted into our lives before we come to faith-junction where we abandon our stubborn notions and dead-end priorities for something authentic and true? I have had too many "But they" moments in my life to count. What if I had listened instead? I am not called to blend, but to contrast " But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD... Continue reading

The Scream by Edvard Munch has been described as a representation of anxiety Father ... I am a "dis-tractable" soul. You know that and I know that and I am amazed how You have accommodated that in me and taught me to manage within the margins of my "dis-tractability" to find a tract within which I can live and seek you and find traction for my journey. I don't slip as much as one might expect. I don't wander as far as I might. I don't fall off as many cliffs as I might fear and I don't lose sight... Continue reading

Photo Credit - Times of Inda Shine, rising sun upon these steps I take. It is a dark world this morning, but it is morning. Early, comes morning and only hopeful people venture forth. The world is dark. Is it? And if it is dark, if, indeed and if entirely ... Then why is it that I see the road before me and little obstacles in my path? Why is it that I can see anything if everything is dark? It must be something else because it is not totally dark. Something we call darkness has come upon us, but... Continue reading

What am I empowered to do and to be in this moment that, without this moment, could not come to pass? What can I do that I could not do without this burden to bear and the opportunities it brings? Continue reading

Jean Julian: Drawing Attention, Status Magazine We are to give, pray, and fast, not to draw attention to ourselves, but to draw our attention to God. Sharing our thoughts in the space we call social media is a dangerous balance of allowing the blessings and challenges to bless others, of being authentic as a fellow struggling soul, and to squash the temptations toward pride. It helps when you are another ragamuffin among many with more questions than answers. But it is so important to dwell most, in the secret place of the Most High. No one, but God knows your... Continue reading

God still dislikes all the "traditional" sins, but He also has issues with those that seldom make the list - those in which nice people participate. Continue reading

India Illustrated - http://digital.lib.uh.edu/u?/p15195coll29,128 Are you "stuck" in work you feel is insignificant and at the lowest place on the chain of importance? Are you doing menial work when you feel you have a greater calling? Look at David. His entire schooling was doing what kids do in a family like his - chasing ewes, shepherding sheep. Yet David, apparently, grasped the parallels. He realized that the lowest work was really at the heart of the greatest work. To serve, to lead, to protect a great people was really just a larger context of what he had been doing in... Continue reading

Oh the wonders He has done.! And we, with race, yet to be run, Run on and share with daughter, son, The wonders done and to be done. Give ear, incline, and hear this word. As on you run, be thus assured: The glorious deeds which once occurred Are grace bestowed and undeterred. " Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us.... Continue reading

This makes no sense whatsoever to the masses, but it is the need of the hour. It is the calling of the few who will receive it. It is the way of Jesus. Continue reading

We are adjured to pray because it is God’s will to bring all men to salvation and truth. Continue reading

Worthless religion? That connotes that our religion ought to be worth something to someone other than ourselves. It is not just our eternal life insurance policy. It is to have value to other people, to our communities., to our fellow believers, to the world. There are many unbridled and unkind tongues in the world today who justify their bitter speech by saying that they are speaking truth and truth hurts. Truth does hurt - but it is healing hurt and it is the truth itself that hurts, not the delivery of it. When I have had blood clots, I have... Continue reading

Photo From Of all the complaints evoking empathy this day, the words,"no foothold," resound to the heart of the self-sufficient "doer," who is thrown off-balance by life and must learn lessons of trust and dependence. In many ways. it is only by losing false footholds that we ever learn anything about grounding ourselves in more solid soil or better still, solid rock. "Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary... Continue reading