Category Archives: Christian Living

Beyond March Madness

Although it hardly seems possible, Iona’s shooting was even worse. They threw up brick after brick after brick, mostly from twenty to thirty feet away and with no one in the immediate vicinity of the basket so as to offer some hope of an offensive rebound. Which, in retrospect, didn’t really matter, either; they also couldn’t hit a short jumper, a runner or a layup. Continue reading

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Pleasant Pastures

Those who approach in hungry humility, eager for the very words of life, hearts and minds yearning for the refreshing of the Spirit, find a filling in Scripture that cannot be found in anything else. Continue reading

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Heart Trouble

I would rather be grateful and adore a capricious God than spend my life in the hollowness of skepticism.
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Truth in Advertising

Over the years of remodeling, I’ve helped strip off old wallpaper more than once. It’s not my favorite job. In fact, it’s often an exercise in persistence, patience and frustration. I’ve scraped, scratched, torn and then sprayed on enough vinegar to alter the pH level of an entire limestone quarry. Continue reading

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A Few Concerns

In all of this and more, I remember that we live in a fallen world, a world of pain, disease, affliction and death. I remember that the power of faith, often expressed in prayer, is remarkable and inexplicable. I remember that the God of the Storm has promised that I will be able to bear every burden, every test, every temptation. Continue reading

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A Prayer for Affliction

May you endure
the awful cost of love
with such determination
that all reluctance is worn away.
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A Strong Wind

Here in the Missouri-Iowa-Nebraska corner of Kansas, it is a rare day that the wind does not blow. Continue reading

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After the Storm

but I think
that when we have survived the storm
we ought to be cautious
in noting our inconveniences. Continue reading

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Teachers

I had a good long conversation with a colleague yesterday, discussing poetry and language and such. Continue reading

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Under the Curse

I guess that at least in some ways, it seems easier to blame God for the messes we find ourselves in rather than to accept that responsibility ourselves. Continue reading

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