Primary Or Peripheral?
Good morning... I knew I would be cutting time close when I scheduled the appointment last week, but, as an eternal optimist, I thought, "I can do that, then I can go there." Then when an important, long-standing "there" moved up its start time, my newly committed "that" would no longer fit without rushing. As I opened myself up to God's guidance, praying in the bathtub at the start of my day, I sensed [...]
The Gift Of A God-Glitch
Good morning... Today, on December 12th, there is no reason my inbox should open to October 12th, but that glitch just happened. So I click again on a life-changing announcement. ****** Celebrating Beth Jordan Journal entry by Greg Jordan — 10/12/2017 Beth passed away peacefully last night after living eight courageous and inspiring years with brain cancer. Beth was an incredible person, a wonderful wife, mother and friend to all. We continue to be inspired by [...]
Journaling Christmas Joy
Good morning... I joyfully journal to the glow of our Christmas tree lights for the first time in 2017. I love this morning every year. These still, quiet moments reap the benefits of having finally chosen our tree and somehow gotten it home safely strapped atop our car, having struggled it centered into the stand then tying it upright to hooks on the wall, and having decorated the ten to twelve foot visitor with [...]
God’s Bud Is Bursting
Good morning... The image filling my mind has three parts: a single red rose bud in a simple vase, a clean kitchen counter, and an under cabinet beam of accent light. Today I wake late following an annual Christmas gathering with the vision of a rose resting on the counter, basking in warmth of cozy kitchen light. As I laid in my bed groggily praying, I wondered to myself, "What does this image mean?" [...]
Unmasking Our Opponent
Good morning... One line haunts me from our recent post, Do You Trust God? (scroll back through previous posts if you missed it). These powerful words, written by Terrance Malick, shed ugly light on the God who so loves us: "The very moment everything was taken away from Job, he knew it was the Lord who'd taken it away." This condemning statement does not jive with the God I know, so I turn back to [...]
Take Down Your Sails
Good morning... "Take your sails out of their wind." I am not sure when I first heard this wise phrase, but I am learning to put it into practice regularly. When the fierce winds of crazy conflict start picking up speed inside and around us, we take down our sails. When anxious winds begin gusting hard in our direction, do more, please more, song and dance more, we take down our sails. When self-defeating winds [...]
God’s Grace Instructs Us
Good morning... I recently told this story off the top of my head, but it is much more meaningful when read from the book. "Connie's son started wearing an earring. She became annoyed and told her husband, 'I'm going to pray his ears bleed!' But as her prayers took on the contemplative tone of surrendering instead of managing and of listening to God - instead of telling God what to do - a new [...]
Do You Trust God?
Good morning... Inside the funeral bulletin silently rested a powerful insert. I have returned to the words again and again, intrigued by their challenge. ****** Excerpt from The Tree of Life by Terrance Malick Job imagined he might build his nest on high - that the integrity of his behavior would protect him against misfortune. And his friends thought, mistakenly, that the Lord could only have punished him because he secretly he'd done something [...]
I Need The One Who Answers
Good morning... I wondered as I left an important meeting, "How and when will I know which steps to take?" Driving home in silent turmoil, music from within surprised my meandering mind: "I need You, God, I need You. Every hour I need You. My one defense. My righteousness. Oh, God, how I need You." Wisdom dawned. I do not need to know the answers, the outcome, the future's path, I just need to know [...]
We Choose: Open Or Closed?
Good morning... Traveling into a hard day, a hard decision, a hard dialogue? Open or closed? The choice is ours. "As they continued their travel, Jesus entered a village," says the Bible in Luke 10:38-42 (MSG). A woman by the name of Martha welcomed him and made him feel quite at home. She had a sister, Mary, who sat before the Master, hanging on every word he said. Both sisters begin the day wide open to [...]
What Is Prayer – Really?
Good morning... At our final Bible study gathering for the semester, we each identified "Words of the Soul," words, sentences, and quotes we would take with us from our Friday discussions of Jan Johnson's When the Soul Listens. Collectively, some of our most memorable words are: Pause. Listen. Wait. Trust. Space. Abide. Soak. Favorite sentences include: "Jesus is relentlessly relational...'Start the car!' he says." "When in doubt, wait." "Our spirit is on tiptoe - [...]
Lessons From A Dying Cardinal
Good morning... Walking with my friend, we were stunned to see a dying cardinal lying on the sidewalk. The little creature was slowly moving his bright red head, looking around, blinking his eyes, but his chubby body was stationary, paralyzed on the pavement. When I said, "Oh, let's pick him up and put him in a soft, private place," I could feel my friend's wordless resistance: "Let's not intervene." After walking on in silence, my [...]