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Have a Very Mercy Christmas!
The day is raw and rainy, and nobody wants to go the store for the necessary groceries. Even though (or perhaps especially because), the time to make dinner is fast approaching. Helpful Hal, nudged by his conscience and his wife, finally agrees to venture out. It is an hour later when Helpful Hal returns, somewhat harried and haggard, having braved the traffic, the store crowds, and what has become steadily falling sleet. He stumbles in with his arms full of wet bags, only to trip on Tiny Toddler’s toy train set. Hal and the groceries land with a thwap, a slap, and an “Oh crap!” “Cwap!” repeats Tiny Toddler, earning…
Know Rest for the Weary
“Never wake a sleeping bear!” says Aunt Margaret. “Or Aunt Grace!” pipes in then two-year old Zippy, wise beyond her years. I am not a morning person. I’ve often joked that the answer to “When does human life begin?” is…
Pilgrims & Progress
I grew up surrounded by books, and even today I often picture myself as the leading character in a childhood classic from the very early years before big words or complex plots. One such character is the peddler in Caps…
Bumper Cars: Let Him Drive
In each of the last several years, at the beginning of Advent, God has given me a theme for the upcoming year. One year the theme was “receiving”; another was “silence.” Each has been a theme that God developed powerfully…
Mary and the Magnifying Glass
I remember the day when I was in fifth grade when some of the more mischievous boys, not generally inclined towards academics, nonetheless took a sudden interest in science. They would get up and go to the potted plants on…
Not From Me But For Me
Peter began to say to Jesus, “We have given up everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children…
Night Vision: A Reflection on the Transfiguration
I often receive images in prayer, but that night in prayer group they were different. Usually, the images were personal—if not for me, then for someone else with me. They were usually something to encourage or inspire, or perhaps (gently)…
Love in All the Wrong Places: On Leaving Behind the “Land of Transactions”
C.S. Lewis once wrote that God “whispers in our pleasures, but shouts in our pain.” Years ago, l was living a “season of shouting”—when I was wrestling with deep spiritual longing and angst, but not yet recognizing God’s voice in…
I See What You Did There
I am among the reluctant fans of The Chosen. I must confess that when it first came out, I refused to watch it. I usually find myself disappointed even in regular film when I’ve “read the book first.” So often,…
So Close: The Breath of God
It happened so quickly that I didn’t have to time to be afraid. It was so sudden that there wasn’t even time for her Grandparents, watching from the balcony above, to cry out. We had been swimming—or more accurately, Zippy…
The Lie of Lack
The women on both sides of my family loved to play cards. My grandmother and my aunt introduced me to all sorts of fun games. Most of them I’ve forgotten, but I do remember that my favorite was War, and…
