Good morning... This is one of my favorite pictures of Charlie, our first grandchild. His official name is Charles Shepherd Allen, and Charles means "free man." This name matters a lot to our family, because Charles (Charlie), like all of us, is born into the freedom Jesus Christ purchased on the cross, once and for all. Christ has [...]
Good morning... Since our two years of training ended in 2017, four of us spiritual directors meet monthly by phone for peer supervision. We live in different states and see one another very rarely, but our two hour conversations are some of my favorite moments every month. This month the person facilitating read aloud an opening prayer written [...]
Good morning... "Sue," she wrote this week, "your devotional about wide open spaces made me think of sharing with you the works of John O’Donahue. I learned of him through a good friend who was a Methodist pastor and a missionary to Ghana. I shared with him that the school I was teaching at was a Classical Christian [...]
Good morning... I felt burdened by heavy homework for a summer class I am taking. Reading. Podcast. TED Talk. I was drowning in a sea of complicated words, overwhelmed by crowded conclusions others have drawn. Suddenly, I turned off the assignment mid-sentence and followed my inner teacher, the Holy Spirit of the living God. Surrounded by a gorgeous [...]
Good morning... "Once in a blue moon someone like you comes along," Van Morrison sings into our soul. A friend sent me an article, an article written by Alissa Barry. These are perfect thoughts to ponder as May tips into June. ******* Once in a blue moon. Today is a rare celestial event. It's a blue moon. A [...]
Good morning... As I stroll into our summer reading of Henri Nouwen's Here and Now, I meet these words on page 43. "Joy and hope are never separate. I have never met a hopeful person who was depressed or a joyful person who has lost hope." I think to myself, "Actually, I think I am a hopeful person [...]
Good morning... Walking beside the muddy banks of the Chattahoochee river, I was reminded of a quote from our final book of the semester, Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer. On page 79, Parker writes about the season of spring. "...before spring becomes beautiful, it is plug ugly, nothing but mud and muck. I have walked in [...]
Good morning... In our spiritual growth group, she read this request out loud. ****** Circle me O God Keep faith within Keep fear without. Circle me O God Keep hope within Keep despair out. Circle me O God Keep peace within Keep turmoil out. Circle me O God Keep calm within Keep storms without. Circle me O God [...]
Good morning... Last week in class, we read aloud much of my favorite chapter in Parker Palmer's Let Your Life Speak. In a chapter entitled All the Way Down, Parker unpacks the most life-giving description of depression I have ever experienced. I posted some of his words yesterday in our blog Befriending Our Depression. Today, I feel drawn [...]
Good morning... Ironically this same tongue can be both an instrument of blessing to our Lord and Father and a weapon that hurls curses upon others who are created in God’s own image (James 3:9, VOICE). Today, will our tongue be an instrument of God's peace or a weapon of the warring world? Hatred exists. Heap hate or [...]
