A child is born into an alien world. He has just come, that is, his soul has just come from Eden, from a state of oneness with God. And here, s/he finds him or herself in a body, in a world where God is not so present, so visible. And so the babe, as s/he […]

“If God is your co-pilot change seats!” read the sign at Avondale Presbyterian Church in Charlotte for a week or more this February. This sign amused me because I have long thought of my life as an airplane with God as the pilot and me the co-pilot. There is a lot of back and forth […]

We know exactly what it feels like to be obedient. We toe the line. We do exactly what is expected of us. We follow each and every rule, crossing every “t” and dotting every “I” so that we get it exactly right. This is how we as children had to remember to behave, because it […]

  We know what prayer is, right? The Lord’s Prayer. Petitions. The prayer is in the words that we send up to God. Those are prayers, wonderful ones, yes, but only a small part of praying. Praying mostly consists of opening ourselves up—heart, mind, soul and body—to the presence of God. We can access his […]

One of the things that I have learned in following Christ is that timing is everything. And that without an inner ear tuned to what he is asking of me right now, I can violate his timing by being too early or too late or I can miss the boat totally. It is only in […]

“Be still and know that I am God.” That is a challenge in this busy, busy holiday season. But at all times there is a reason that we are asked in Psalm 46:10 to still ourselves, to quiet our minds, to simplify our lives: we cannot access the divine wisdom within us, the “still, small […]

Life itself is such a miracle! And having a life here, being a part of this great planet is such a privilege! The beauty, the interconnec-tedness of all species, the incredible variety of plants and animals, rocks and minerals! What a gift life is! And what a God who created it all! Can you even […]

When we say, somewhat glibly, that God is love, what are we really saying? God loves us. Yes. But more than that, he loves us with an unconditional, unchanging outpouring of love and affection, support and invitation to be in a deep relationship with him, an invitation to step into the fullness of who we […]

  I am sitting in a booth at Chuck E. Cheese while my grandsons play games and rack up coupons. It’s noisy just like it used to be when I took my sons to another one in California 30 years ago. I am thinking about the grace and blessings that I’ve experienced in my life, […]

There are two ways to be compassionate. From a cultural viewpoint compassion is caring about another person. It might be being with someone who is grieving and helping them through it. It might be feeding the homeless. Or visiting someone who is sick. It often comes with pity attached, feeling sorry for the other person, […]