Thinking this morning about what it would take to restore and reverse the alarming, systemic, deeply-rooted tribalism and division we see all around us. It’s everywhere – in local communities, in families, in America, and in just about every part of the world. I’d love to know about times when our global community and human […]

I sprained my ankle while running last night. And as I limped back to my airbnb through the crowded streets of an unfamiliar city, I became very frustrated with God and the fact that, if He supposedly cares about our suffering, it sure seems contradictory when He allows bad things to happen – great or […]

Some loves are more turbulence-tested; more hardship-calcified; more resilient than others. I think of inter-racial couples when that was most definitely not allowed. I think of those same couples in later decades when it was technically allowed but whispered about; frowned upon; criticized; dangerous. That’s still the case for some. I think of lovers from […]

Psalm 139 – “23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 19 – “12b Forgive my hidden faults. 13 Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not […]

I was thinking this evening about how, on Youtube at this very moment, I could look up instructions and how-to’s on just about every conceivable task. I could find out how to (and have in fact looked at resources for all of these things in the past) re-flower my Christmas cactus, rebuild a Honda motorcycle […]

In keeping with the Nativity theme from last post – It’s so easy to forget important aspects of Jesus’s experience and life that would have been significantly affecting, especially during His growing-up years and on the way His community would have seen Him. Let’s not forget – His was an outright scandalous beginning. His young […]

Last night during an interesting conversation with a very learned pseudo-family-member of mine, I tasted a new and interesting phrase that I haven’t heard before: “The space between reality and consensus.” We had been talking (aka he had largely been talking – I didn’t have too much to contribute) about current economic trends – cryptocurrencies, […]

I enjoy this time of year because it prompts thinking about Jesus’s origin story. I don’t experience this every year since it’s easy to zone out a little bit when you hear a story retold that you’ve heard 4,000 times, but this year something stood out to me. Why were Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem […]

Practicing this morning being open-handed with God. Taking a moment to re-offer into His ownership and control all the things that are most precious and important to me. If you haven’t tried that or done it recently, it’s scary and hard. Surrender is scary and hard. But it’s a way I try to make my […]

I recently listened to this talk show episode by Andrew Klavan. Interesting guy, interesting ideas, very long Republican rant. Not for the faint of heart or non-conservative. However, the last segment on the show was a journalistic editorial on the song White Christmas. It felt random – probably exacerbated by the fact that I wasn’t […]