I can’t count how many times I’ve been in my own home and said to myself, “I just want to go home.” But there was nowhere to go. Left with a kind of existential angst and unmet longing, in moments like these I’m usually reminded that what I’m really longing for is completeness and for … More An Exile and a Stranger
Grace is the free gift of God’s enablement. – Mildred Bangs Wynkoop I am a living thing, with a body, a soul, and a mind — living, even with a body broken, sometimes unfamiliar; living, even with a soul sometimes unexplainably sick; living, even with a mind finite, failing me into frustration. I am a … More A Poem: Living
Winter’s settling in and I know Creation’s letting go of all it bore and carried throughout the year; and it, too, is settling into the hands of Winter who offers, not death, but rest — deep, long, hungered-for rest to the hemisphere whose turn it is to stop, and wait, and sleep — if only … More A Poem: Rhythms of Winter
We’ve reached the final day of Advent – all that we’ve waited for is about to be birthed in the very life of Christ. In remembering and observing Advent the last month, I have a small idea of what the people of Israel must have felt for hundreds of years as they waited for deliverance … More One Last Thought: on Advent
I am one who is always pining for perfection: in body, soul, relationships, etc. This is usually a subconscious motive or end goal I always have churning in the back of my mind. I’m very unaware of it until it’s so obviously bursting at the seams again. I can’t escape it, this deep, intrinsic longing … More My Peace I Give to You
December 13th was the feast day of Saint Lucia. I first heard about Saint Lucia (or Lucy) last year during the Advent season, and I was quickly captured by her faithfulness. She lived in second century Rome during the reign of Emperor Diocletian. She was a Christian, and this was a time when Christianity was … More For the Joy Set Before You
I’ve noticed a craving in my soul to slow down, and a resistance in my mind and body luring me to keep scooting around, run from all the things and feelings I’ve been avoiding now for several months; avoiding because I know there are many griefs and hopes in my heart that also live among … More Hope is an Armor
Originally posted in my old newsletter, “It’s Hard Being Human,” on January 1st, 2022 The trees heavy with snow look like giant angels standing guard in sacred, reverent worship. I’d much rather be among them. I’ll forget my life, and my soul will be nurtured as I stand in wonder in 29 degrees, unwilling to … More For another New Year
Originally posted in my old newsletter, “It’s Hard Being Human,” on December 23rd, 2021 O Lord, as we draw ever closer to the day of Your arrival, some of us are crawling in on our elbows, wounded, marred, with tear-stained faces. Let joy refresh our bodies in the midst of this war as we join to … More A Prayer: Preparing for Christmas
Originally posted in my old newsletter, “It’s Hard Being Human,” on December 11th, 2021 If you’ve been following me on Instagram, or you know me in our personal lives, then you may know that the Sunday after Thanksgiving, my beloved grandpa went to be with Jesus. I’ve written a lot about grief here in these … More When Love is Severed