Good morning... Driving around Atlanta each and every February, my spirit cringes at the sight of crape myrtles cut back, harshly pruned, large limbs severed to their trunk. Pricked by their visual barrenness, I remember the long, hard season when the life of my dreams was severed, pruned, cut back to my very Core. Every year at this [...]
Good morning... Remember? I shared with you that my parents, ages 80 and 81, moved away from our hometown of Berea, Ohio after living there for over fifty years. Following the lead of several good friends, on November 1st, 2018 they moved into a two-bedroom, two-bath villa in a continuing care, retirement community twenty minutes away. In early [...]
Good morning... This Sabbath morning, I come upon a quiet quote, like picking up one weathered shell from the winter beach. “Usually, when the distractions of daily life deplete our energy, the first thing we eliminate is the thing we need the most: quiet, reflective time. Time to dream, time to contemplate what's working and what's not, so [...]
Good morning... This midwinter week, what am I learning about the seamless dance between living fully and dying well? Monday: The wise words of Martin Luther King, Jr. leave a life-giving legacy, inviting us all up the mountain to God's higher way. Tuesday: Blending the wisdom of my Florida friend Betty Skinner, as she nears her 93rd birthday, with [...]
Good morning... A few of you wrote me touched by yesterday's morning message (use "Previous" link above to revisit post). I felt compelled to issue each a challenge: "Text me by evening and tell me some of the ways God amazes you today. I will do the same." So by the end of yesterday, these moments of amazement [...]
Good morning... Beloved American poet Mary Oliver tiptoed over from earth to heaven one week ago today in Hobe Sound, Florida. Might three of her most famous quotes shape our prayer time this morning? Read each. Pause quiet. Wait inspired. "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" "Instructions for [...]
Good morning... I love the unifying murmuration of Holy Spirit power I feel with Betty Skinner as she nears 93 years old and with Kitty Crenshaw and Dr. Cathy Snapp, the authors of The Hidden Life Awakened, the captivating book chronicling Betty's journey from deep clinical depression to the height of God's healing to wholeness. Together we also [...]
Good morning... Like morning manna falling for the first followers, God rains down the nourishment we each need for this day. When the dew evaporated, a flaky substance as fine as frost blanketed the ground. The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it. “What is it?” they asked each other. They had no idea what it was (Exodus 16:14-15a, [...]
Good morning... Several months back I read aloud to a Sunday school class the Message translation of John 15:4. I asked people to ponder, "What word or phrase most tickles your heart and grabs your attention?" “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear [...]
Good morning... Millions of people around the world turned out for hundreds of simultaneous gatherings on Saturday. More than one million people joined marches in the United States, including hundreds of thousands in Washington, D.C., for the Women’s March on Washington. “Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy,” President Trump tweeted. “Even if I don’t always agree, I [...]
