Sleep ended for me this morning at 4am. It wasn’t an accident, either. In fact, it was very intentional. My alarm goes off and I stumble down the hallway. I exercise first for an hour, then reading until the girls stir and begin their ascent into the day. Sleep is well behind me by that point. I don’t write this to boast. In fact, I’d love to never get up before the sun again. At least on purpose. The truth... Read more
March 2019 marked a year since my family and I returned to the south suburbs of Chicago. We returned to friends, grocery stores, and famously damaged roads that we knew as well as each others’ voices. The journey of return, necessarily, began with a departure. After nearly 8 years in Tinley Park, IL we moved to Rockford, IL in the fall of 2016. I felt it was time to pause a new position at a church, serving with a friend,... Read more
This is the story of a stop sign and Scripture. A literal stop sign in my neighborhood that at one point rested in the elbow of a 90-degree angle between two streets. You could clearly see that another 2-3 streets were to be added, giving the little red octagon full value. However, until the new streets came it had no purpose. There was no cross traffic, no one to look out for, only a line and a sign before a... Read more
So what is wisdom comes first to losers? I looked in the mirror a while back and suddenly recognized what my wife had pointed out as “your Doctor Strange hair.” Granted, couching this comment in a comparison to the Master of the Mystic Arts helped a great deal. Her point remained: I have two gray streaks, running horizontally from the edges of my hairline at my forehead towards the back of my head. Gray hair isn’t new for me,... Read more
My reading list has been slim as of late, for a variety of reasons. When I trim down the list, I typically gravitate towards my most significant influencers. When Carol Berry’s book about Henri J.M. Nouwen and Vincent Van Gogh came in the mail, it immediately moved to the top of the list. While I won’t claim the title of artist, there is something about artists that has always intrigued me. Something spiritual, actually. Whether visiting the MCA in downtown... Read more
Wisdom has a way of moving us. For much of our life, we are invested in gaining knowledge. Strike that, our entire life flows through the accumulation of knowledge. There are so many things that fit into the category of knowledge, however. There is short-term knowledge like the day’s forecast or whether the Mobil station near the house has a better price on gas. Then we have mid-term knowledge such as what’s happening next month when family comes to visit.... Read more
This week I had the privilege of working outside on our porch, a chance to notice the chill of the newborn spring swaying around me. It is a wonderful time of year in Chicago, waiting out the winds. The humidity yet to come, the air sprinted into my lungs, effortlessly. It is a strange season, where morning requires a parka and afternoon brings on short sleeves. I’m not complaining, mind you. But this place is an oddity when it comes... Read more
With the Resurrection weekend behind us, and the beauty of Eastertide yet to come, I thought it would be good to reflect on a decision I made. I decided to give up podcasts for Lent. It was a bad decision. Sometime before Ash Wednesday I gave thought to what sacrifice made the most sense during this year’s Lenten season. Giving up food was a complicated affair, giving up technology wasn’t an option with a book launch in the middle of... Read more
Mystery: it snowed on Palm Sunday. Or, not a mystery if you’re familiar with Chicago weather. Weather has a very specific way of reminding us that we are not in charge. I woke up and headed to our church, noting the cold and wind. Nothing, I thought. Just early spring chills, winter shaking us for the last time. By midmorning the world was covered in a wet, dense layer of snow. Every window in the church presented views far more... Read more
As I shared recently, my family and I took a trip to Ireland. We owe much of the goodness of that trip to one piece of guidance: TripAdvisor. If you pressed me, I’d admit that my wife has an unhealthy connection to TripAdvisor. She has badges, people have listened to her advice, and we rarely take a trip without consulting “the Trip.” However, one of the most surprising things we did while we were in Ireland was a day-long bus... Read more
Everything Becoming
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