Good morning... Before the world began, God hardwired us for abundant life, on earth as it is in heaven. Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It’s way over our heads. We’ll never figure it out. Is there anyone around who can explain God? Anyone smart enough to [...]
Good morning... The life-changing influence of my favorite book continues to expand. In the fall of 2007, I met the first edition of The Hidden Life Awakened when Becky Anderson, the beloved scribe of Christian mystic Betty Skinner, spoke at our church on the newly released book chronicling Betty's journey up from the valley of clinical depression to the peak [...]
Good morning... As I journal with God this morning before our crowded house wakes up, I feel mysteriously drawn to create two lists on one page. On the left I jot the heading OVER. On the right I write UNDER. Then I allow words to popcorn into place. OVER - Overwhelmed. Overlooked. Over-served. Overextended. Overspending. Overindulging. Overanalyzing. Overeating. Overweight. [...]
Good morning... Blinking open his five senses to novel sights, smells, and sounds, the newly born Jesus ...was in the world, the world was there through him, and yet the world didn’t even notice (John 1:10b, MSG). Noticing Immanuel, God's powerful presence with us, does not happen immediately. Often, especially during the hectic of the holidays, we have a hard [...]
Good morning... I hate it when I spend early morning hours crafting a blog post, and then a misguided mistake makes it vanish, disappear, blip away in an instant. Of course it's me. I swipe wrong. I touch something I shouldn't. My non-technical mind makes some errant error. I hate it when I spend early morning hours crafting [...]
Good morning... Being with my spiritual mentor Betty Skinner last weekend reminds me of the "Be the Ball" scene from the 1980 movie Caddyshack. Traveling to Ponte Vedra, Florida to visit with 93-year-old Betty, I had questions about life, about faith, about God. I have admired the way Betty has landed herself in the center of God's will for [...]
Good morning... "We are not helping our children by always preventing them from what might be a necessary falling," writes Richard Rohr on page 28 of Falling Upward, "because you learn how to recover from falling by falling! It is precisely by falling off the bike many times that you eventually learn what the balance feels like. The [...]
Good morning... Our home is filled with artwork created by people I know and love. Margo Boden. Our children. Steve Penley. Gina MacFarland. Sally Mitchell. The one artist who graces our home most often with her beautiful creations is painter, photographer, and philantropist Corrine Adams. One-of-a-kind photographs. Funky seed creations. Transparent bottles filled with cool sayings. Unique jewelry, [...]
Good morning... After the second week of our Enneagram class, I got an email from a very good friend. "Sue, I thought you might want to read where the Enneagram originated. Also google Sufi. I just wasn’t sure if you knew this. Pray and see if this is something the Lord wants you to be involved with. Love you [...]
Good morning... Last Monday morning, Rev. Catherine Boothe Olson and I prepared the space for our noontime Enneagram class. As people began slowly trickling into the sacred chapel, I felt like a "welcome" greeter in heaven. I joyfully hugged women I love from book studies in our living room and women I adore from mission trips, outreach experiences, [...]
