Acts promises that with the Holy Spirit in us, we will be able to boldly live out the Good News -- whether this takes the form of speaking confidently, or of taking the leap to follow our calling. I used to be terrified of public speaking. But when I started working with the subjects of faith and recovery -- subjects connected to my calling -- the fear was just gone. Gone. Read more
Being a new parent may be the greatest challenge to spiritual groundedness. In her new book, "Random MOMents of Grace," Ginny Kubitz Moyer takes us through early motherhood from a spiritual perspective -- the struggles she had to maintain a spiritual life, and the spiritual lessons she learned from parenting itself. It's an obvious gift for mothers, and a valuable and delightful read for any thoughtful traveller, male or female, parent or not, on the spiritual journey. Read more
Today's daily meditation in Living Faith on Psalm 19 is one of mine: "the firmament proclaims his handiwork." Read my reflection on encountering God in nature. This coming spring weekend, you can be certain I'll be outdoors encountering God's handiwork. Read more
Today’s daily meditation in Living Faith is one of mine. The reading is: Our God is in heaven; whatever he wills, he does. Their idols are silver and gold, the handiwork of men. — Psalm 115:3-4 Here’s a bit of my reflection: Any time we put some material desire ahead of God’s will, we are worshiping an idol. If I’ll do anything to get a big house, I’m making worldly success an idol. If I let someone else be blamed... Read more
A review of Robin Davis' spiritual memoir, Recipe for Joy: A Stepmom's Story of Finding Faith, Following Love, and Feeding a Family, reflections on the role of food in community and a free book giveaway! Read more
Each year Easter reminds me that renewal is for all of us all of the time. One of my treasured possessions is an icon given to me by my spiritual director before my own baptism which depicts what is commonly called the "Harrowing of Hades," where Jesus, between his death and resurrection, visits Hades, wakes Adam and Eve (symbolizing all of us) from their sleep and pulls them away from the control of death. We can wake up, be revived, and reconnect to divine love -- at our baptism, with all the Church at Easter, or at any time. Have a blessed Easter. Read more
Food traditions establish sense memories, which are the strongest kind. Marking annual events with specific foods is powerfully grounding. With Holy Week comes one of my favorites: hot cross buns. Read a little about the buns' pre-Christian roots, and use my recipe to make your own this year! Read more
The vernal equinox and the Persian/Iranian New Year Nowrooz are today (March 20) and, where I live in the American Northeast, the annual cycle of natural rebirth is starting to Spring into high gear. This is the time of Easter and Passover too. Christianity offers us the opportunity to start anew -- demands it of us! Whether it's a full blown conversion, an annual renewal along with the rest of the church community at Easter, or an individual act of confession and rededication at any time, Christians have many ways to turn around (con-vert) and get back on the path at any time. My own life has been shaped by several conversions... Read more
Lincoln's core premise seems to be this: presentations of history should be slow and dull, like a Ken Burns documentary. I knew a handful of minutes in, a few lines of dialogue past the gratuitously brutal and out-of-place war scene, that I would not love this movie. What I did not expect was how uninteresting I would find it throughout. I love history. I revere Lincoln. But at 1:15, almost exactly the half way point, I was distracted by an email and put the screener copy on hold, got caught up in a few things and darned near forgot all about it. Many have commented before on the odd coincidence of two blockbusters on the same subject, slavery, by two of modern filmmaking's most beloved directors coming out at the same time: Spielberg's Lincoln and Tarantino's Django Unchained. I saw Django back in December. Last month, I also watched the PBS documentary series, The Abolitionists. I found The Abolitionists -- all three+ hours -- engaging, informative and moving . I found Django emotionally powerful, morally powerful and absolutely entertaining. Lincoln... is dull as drying paint. Read more
About five years ago, I got the idea to fast from judging whether or not beggars are worthy -- instead of deciding if each is truly needy, a slacker or con artist, a good street musician or bad, I just give a dollar to anyone asking. It's sort of a combination of fasting and almsgiving and it has broken my heart open -- changed my attitude permanently towards those who beg. Read more
On the Way
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