"There is no fight He cannot win, no far place from which He cannot bring His children home."--Amanda Bible Williams, The Lord Is Our God It's pretty easy to recognize that we are currently living in a very hostile, public battle for power. But how often do we recognize the equally hostile, but much more …
Healing
"Wherever the brokenness of sin touches, wherever fragmentation and alienation occurs, the mission of God looks like putting back together what evil has torn apart."--Glenn Packiam Physical injuries often require external intervention to facilitate healing. Washing a laceration to remove impurities, soothing a wound with the application of ointment, the surgical alignment of bones, (in …
Repentance
"Our greatest need and God's greatest gift are the same thing: forgiveness of sins. And to receive it, we have only to ask and pass it on. But to ask for it, we must first admit that we need it." Pete Grieg, How to Pray, p.170 The brokenness of our world has a source. It …
Lamentation
"Not to grieve is to deny the reality of love."N.T. Wright In as much we know the deep goodness of this world, we know too that it is deeply broken. Our communities are frayed by disease and violence. Our families are untethered by social separation so that our elders shrink in isolation and marriages dissolve …
In the Beginning
"At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless; Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is, …" —T.S. Eliot from Burnt Norton, Four Quartets If you were to ask me to name the primary force shaping the conversation of our world today, I would say fear. No …
Make the Circuit of Zion
"Make the circuit of Zion. Walk round about her; count the number of her towers. Consider well her bulwarks; examine her strongholds; that you may tell those who come after." --Psalm 48: 11 & 12 These have been strange days navigating the limitations of Coronavirus with racially charged violence, reactionary riots, a Presidential election, and …
Trying my Hand at Knitting Design
The design style of the Arts & Crafts movement of the early 20th century has long appealed to me. It may have to do with touring Pasadena's Gamble House just as my interest in art and architecture was awakening. But I am also drawn to its warm beauty, its connection with folk art legacies, its …
Hold It Loosely
As a kid, I had a trick toy--a soft plastic cylinder tube, filled with liquid. The balance of the liquid was just right that when you tried to pick it up, the liquid would shift against the end of the tube, pushing the toy right out of your hand. The more force you used to …
