God Dawns In Our Darkness
Good morning... I melt into tears as I finally have a quiet moment to savor your many loving texts and emails following yesterday's post. Thank you for responding with such love, care, and support as our community grieves yet another shocking loss. Up the road from Northside Church, in the St. Philips community of faith, a similar story is unraveling as another dad of Lovett grads was found dead on Friday evening. "The [...]
Today’s Funeral For A Father
Good morning... The sun rises today to host a funeral for a father. Let me tell you of the days leading up to this morning. Our 17-year-old son brought a good friend with us on spring break in Florida, and on the second evening of our vacation this friend got a call from his mother in Atlanta. The phone was filled with horrible news. His father was found dead in his apartment in [...]
Savor Sabbath: An Invitation To All
Good morning... I happened upon this Scripture and I savor its simplicity. You’ve always given me breathing room, a place to get away from it all, A lifetime pass to your safe-house, an open invitation as your guest. You’ve always taken me seriously, God, made me welcome among those who know and love you (Psalm 61:3-5). I welcome you to touch "Previous" six times at the top of this post to review again [...]
We Are Being Saved Whole
Good morning... Until we look inside ourselves, to the very marrow of our God-drenched soul, we look for love in all the wrong places. People. Political and religious leaders. Paycheck after paycheck, we search for deeper meaning. Sue Monk Kidd says it this way. ****** Excerpt from When The Heart Waits Without maps or signposts, people search for their inner home in the wrong places: in professional success, material status, institutions, persons, pleasures, [...]
How Do We Pray?
Good morning... She said to me honestly, "With all of the division in our world, religiously and politically, I really am not sure how to pray." Her confusion made me think of Sue Monk Kidd's comment: "To believe you can find your way 'home' through the crises and the sufferings that fall upon you - and believe it even in the midnight of your struggle - requires a transfigured vision. It requires faith." [...]
All God’s Critters
Good morning... A funky song comes singing from my brain, an old song implanted within me deeply during my active youth group years. "All God's critters got a place in the choir. Some sing low and some sing higher. Some sing out loud on a telephone wire. And some just clap their hands, their paws, their everything-they-got-now." I truly believe that all of God's critters have a place in God's choir and it [...]
My Angels Have Broken Wings
Good morning... I simply must tell you, most every angel figure in our home has at least one broken wing. The angel pictured here, who sits beside us when I host outdoor spiritual direction sessions, broken. The angel in our main nativity creche, broken. The angels in the smaller nativity scenes kept at Christmas in each bedroom, broken. The angel reading a book in our front garden, broken. The angel doing a headstand [...]
Our Fertile Common Ground
Good morning... In my quiet time this morning, I am drawn to cultivate yesterday's controversial post, expanding the fertile, common ground beneath our feet. Whether we walk to the middle with God from the left or walk to the middle with God from the right, As we take into our body the broken body of Christ, we are united in a holy, intimate mystery. Centered at one with God, we encourage rather than criticize. [...]
Broken Open Together
Good morning... I felt privileged to serve holy communion to our family of faith during a tumultuous time in the United Methodist Church. With my feeble fingers I pulled off a small piece of the whole homemade loaf and placed it in the open palm of each person walking up to receive a living morsel of transformational truth. To the young mom worshipping without a soulmate I encouraged, "This is the body of [...]
Savor Sabbath: Love Never Ends
Good morning... Whatever life phase you wake up to this springtime Sabbath, God's endless love rains down fresh and gentle. “Let my teaching drop as the rain, My speech distill as the dew, As the light rain upon the tender grass, And as the spring showers upon the herb" (Deuteronomy 32:2, AMP). What teaching has the LORD dropped upon us this week? What sacred speech might we distill as the dew? As spring [...]
We Share The Love We Receive
Good morning... "I appreciate your efforts in presenting the 'Living Fully - Dying Well' series," she emailed me after we finished our six-week series on peacefully attending to various facets of the final season of life. On the last week we each brought symbols of loved ones who have gone ahead of us to heaven. A funny bow tie. Meaningful jewelry. A blue bird figurine. An original sash from the women's suffrage movement. [...]
We Come Alive In Community
Good morning... I am grateful to be the Women's Ministry Director at Northside Church. My spiritual gifts have grown deep roots and fresh fruits in the rich nurturing soil of our family of faith. My True Self comes alive in collaboration with the diverse, creative people in our loving community. As we move toward the Lenten season, check out the life-giving opportunities available. Our six-week class and our annual Women's Lenten Communion Service [...]