Approx. read time: 1:05 min. Jesus, with his unexpected and frankly unsettling pronouncements, must have startled folks in his time. He instructs his Twelve (hey, that would be us): “As you tour the towns and villages, announce this: The reign of God is at hand!” Do any of us get what he’s really saying?… Read more »
Approx. read time: 2:15 min. From my bus window I take in a sweeping view of the verdant Willamette Valley—wheat fields, vineyards, the sheep—as I travel to be with family. I have nearly two hours to do nothing but be present to this freedom of unstructured time. So I find myself recalling the words… Read more »
Approx. read time: 2:40 min. After my Saturday morning talk, my hosts take me to lunch at a local breakfast spot. It has the vibe of “locally owned.” It turns out, it’s a franchise. The young waiter is thoughtful, courteous. Afterward, they drop me off at a restaurant a block from the transit platform… Read more »
Approx. read time: 3:15 min The prophetic and divinely subversive season of Advent slips in, I notice, while shoppers’ attention is fixed on nabbing a parking spot, a deal, and the dream of abundant merch on every shelf. A prophetic season, I say, because we can’t say we didn’t get the warning: The reign… Read more »
Read time: 1 minute If I lived a life free of vulnerability I’d never experience … the kindness of strangers the skill of attentiveness the art of the possible the craft of imagination the invitation of trust the hope of grace the blessing of aloneness the sense of discovery the thrill of not knowing the… Read more »
Approx. read time: 3:25 min I live a life of what you might call itinerant poverty. Itinerant means moving from place to place, moving to where the possibilities are. The word itinerary suggests the same. Many Dustbowl era folks lived the itinerant life, under harsher, more dire conditions than I know today. Jesus lived… Read more »
Approx. read time: 3:00 min. Lately I’ve had a hard time focusing. Like most everyone else, I get distracted with “being busy.” “Being busy” is our culture’s code for how we prove our worth, even if only to ourselves. Being busy is easy. Being focused, I discover, is a discipline. It means I must… Read more »
Approx. read time: 3:35 min. This week a U.S. Congressmember acknowledges, of the aggressions in Ukraine, that the United States essentially is at war with another nuclear superpower. “And it’s important that we win.” I was not ready to have my heart and my attention seized by this long-distance bloodbath, which now suddenly feels… Read more »
Approx. read time: 2:40 min. I am thinking about Jesus. I am thinking about bread. I am thinking about wheat. I am thinking about the people of Ukraine. I am thinking about Jesus. It’s a circular thought, I notice. Coherent, complete. I think about Jesus on the night of his arrest, at table. His… Read more »
Approx. read time: 3:30 min. In 7th grade I pretty much understood that I wasn’t into delivering the counterpunch. This was after I got dissed off the volleyball team. I don’t mean the school’s competitive team. I mean the one that formed at recess. The counsel I received? If they bully you, you bully… Read more »
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