Good morning... "I don't know exactly why or even when the idea came to me that I should keep a ledger on deep-felt thoughts," writes Betty Skinner the heroine of our semester's book, who is gracefully celebrating her 94th birthday today. "I have experienced that on one level, in matters of the heart, we are all alone, isolated, [...]
Good morning... On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I read aloud to each class the series of Scripture verses filling yesterday's post. We opened our inner ears to notice the words touching our hearts, then we popcorn-ed out our phrases beneath the heading "Our Hidden Life." As we recorded our reflections, together we scribbled God's answer to our deepest [...]
Good morning... Teaching my favorite book on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I ponder the title, The Hidden Life Awakened. Beneath our many layers, I wonder, "God, what is this 'hidden life' secreted in our depths?" The Word of God illuminates our answer. God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our [...]
Good morning... "She clung to the hope she could feel free and whole," says page 46 in The Hidden Life Awakened. "She understood, on some deep, barely conscious level, that if she would persevere and be patient with the pace of grace, God would finally show her the way to peace." As I read these words aloud in class, [...]
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 [...]
