Need to get onto a new bible reading schedule. Since the glorious advent of the guy who reads the bible when I push play on the Internet, in contrast to the bad old days when I had to read it from the page with my eyes and my mind, I’ve gotten through the whole thing every ten months or so for a few years. How many is a few? Is it five? Or three? I don’t know. The main thing... Read more
Verily, verily I say unto you, it was a super long weekend. The kick off of fall Sunday school always brings a certain, how shall I call it, Kilimanjaro of work, and this year is no exception. I say ‘is’ because I had to shove a smaller lesser foothill of stuff into the recesses of the back cupboard in the children’s area and will have to go face it, yea, even today. If it was possible for me to earn my... Read more
It’s been a long week. Thought it might be worthy of some scattered takes. One I believe that today is the anniversary of 9/11. I’m pretty sure this is so because our library books are due. Had a moment of sadness, when the librarian said, “these will be due back on 9/11.” Expected us both to pause with furrowed brow, and nod at each other in understanding. But neither of those things happened. She continued on gazing at her computer... Read more
That Buzzfeed I am a Christian But I’m Not video keeps circling back through my life, even though it’s practically old. When did it come out? On the weekend? And every time I see it I get mad all over again. It occurs to me that the video, in so far as it is a reflection of current trends, veers off the rails because of misplaced fear. It’s not ok to be Christian anymore, obviously. If you believe in real... Read more
Too much of my mental space is always being taken up trying to connect one Internet meme to another, not because they are related but because they happened through my news feed at the same time. If only I would use the same mental capacity to think carefully through the scriptures, but, oh well, maybe next week. So over the weekend this ghastly buzzfeed video made the rounds, and at the same time, I found myself scrolling through these clever... Read more
After my tantrum of yesterday about how tired I am of the news and the internet, I went ahead and read it all anyway After, I swear, AFTER I did all my work. It wasn’t totally fruitless. I came across this article from the dark ages of 2012 about how critical Hospitality is, and how important it is for people to feel free to invite themselves into your home, how the very gospel depends upon it. And gosh, I read... Read more
Color me exhausted by the unrelenting news cycle. I had super important work to do this weekend which mainly included me sitting hunched over in my Sunday school room retyping worn out Sunday school lessons. Every few minutes Elphine, who was supposed to be cleaning the kitchen, would call to update me about the latest fight. So and so screamed at so and so. One or another sister had refused to participate in the cleanup. Violence and shrill voices were... Read more
Update: Upon reflection, it occurred to me that critiquing the most beloved Christian blogger of right now may cause every single reader to froth in rage. In which case I’m Sorry! Chalk it up to me having a black ugly heart. I was bemused and amazed, running into the stats of the most known Christian bloggers, that Ann Voskamp sits comfortably at number three. For those of you who smack into me at Coffee Hour, or in other venues where I... Read more
The great tragedy of Tullian and his wife broke open this summer when we happened to be on the end of a gorgeously restful vacation. We’d spent weeks lolling about by the pool, planning to make extravagant meals but then wearying in the details and rushing off, in fits of hunger, to a Mexican restaurant that smokes its own meat. We would make all kinds of plans, in fact, and then carry through on none of them. I read an... Read more
Well, we survived our first day of school. I always like to torture myself before a school year by reading lots of stuff on the Internet that will always and forever make me hate myself. That great sustaining pool that lets you find actual stuff that will actually help you is fed by a deep and powerful stream of other people’s lives that will never help you at all and will only make you know, truly and completely, that you…what’s... Read more
Preventing Grace
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