A few years ago I was able to spend the week before Easter reading Scripture and praying in a more focused way than usual. It was 2011, my personal annus mirabilis, the year when I finally accepted the idea that God accepted me. Every day for months, I heard new truth and wrote it down. … [Read more…]
A few years ago I was able to spend the week before Easter reading Scripture and praying in a more focused way than usual. It was 2011, my personal annus mirabilis, the year when I finally accepted the idea that God accepted me. Every day for months, I heard new truth and wrote it down. … [Read more…]
A few years ago I was able to spend the week before Easter reading Scripture and praying in a more focused way than usual. It was 2011, my personal annus mirabilis, the year when I finally accepted the idea that God accepted me. Every day for months, I heard new truth and wrote it down. … [Read more…]
I didn’t grow up in a liturgical tradition, and I do not presently attend a church that observes a lot of ceremony. When I’ve had opportunity to visit in churches different from mine, I’ve often been moved by the meaning expressed in more formal worship. Sometimes as we approach church holidays, I feel . . … [Read more…]
Truth is terrifying in its power and in its beauty. Its perfection is so extreme, so out of place in a fallen world, that it is fearful to look upon. We see it out of the sides of our eyes and know it is there, waiting, almost lurking, not because of its nature but because … [Read more…]
All is false. All that we admire and respect and take pride in—apart from God—is false. Oh, my God, the filthy rags of our worthless works—they smell of death; they are putrid beyond description. How it must nauseate You even to look on us and our ridiculous attempts to make ourselves into gods, “to be … [Read more…]
“Are you happy right now?” It’s a simple question. He wants a simple answer. Can I give him one? He doesn’t want to hear that people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be, even though Abraham Lincoln said it so it must be true. He doesn’t want to hear that … [Read more…]
Recent events have many of us thinking, pondering, meditating on the state of relations among the diverse individuals who make up our nation. This evening, I’ll be attending a meeting at my Atlanta church, Renovation, to discuss just that. Praying toward that end, I’ve reflected on my early days at Renovation, back in January 2011. … [Read more…]
In the months since January 2011, when God released me from a self-imposed fortress of rules and restrictions, I have come to understand more of the truth which makes us free, as promised by Christ when He walked among us. I have run and danced and imagined myself flying; I have played and rejoiced and celebrated in … [Read more…]
I went once to Wrightsville Beach. Our friends – we all – had left Goldsboro and drifted far, liberated leaves on an autumn wind, our colors scattered to brighten other lawns. We collected ourselves at their new home in Wilmington to celebrate the connections, and they took us out to the seaside, out to the … [Read more…]