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Category Archives: Spiritual Life
Order and Disorder
The interlacing of order and disorder is precisely what seems to be needed for the creative emergence of novelty. New things happen in regimes that we have learned to identify as being “at the edge of chaos.” Too far on … Continue reading
When Clergy Are Like Smokers
These words from Quaker Thomas Kelly are on my mind today: Some of the most active church leaders, well-known for their executive efficiency, people we have always admired, are shown, in the X-ray light of Eternity, to be agitated, half-committed, … Continue reading
Agendas In the Church
I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand I will not be shaken. (Ps 16.8) God, I felt shaken yesterday. Frustrated, angry… dealing with decisions, regrets and agendas. Always agendas. Agendas in the … Continue reading
An Honest Prayer
Why pray? Evidently, God likes to be asked. God certainly does not need our wisdom or our knowledge, nor even the information contained in our prayers (“your Father knows what you need before you ask him”). But by inviting us … Continue reading
7 Questions from Francis Asbury
More than any individual, Francis Asbury established Methodism as a force and presence in America. He was utterly devoted to his cause, as shown in this plan of examining one’s spiritual life. To assess whether or not their souls “be … Continue reading
Study Bibles and Messy Spirituality
A parishioner recently asked me what study Bible to use. I mentioned to her the New Oxford Annotated, a classic scholarly resource. I used an older version of the NOA in seminary 20 years ago. As an afterthought, I also … Continue reading
Luminous Darkness
D. H. Williams, a patristics professor at Baylor University, draws guidance from the spirituality of St. Gregory of Nyssa. The key is mystery — specifically how we can know God, whose being is unknowable to us. The path involves a … Continue reading
The Spirituality of Trees
A tall oak tree stands east of fellowship hall. On many afternoons I park my little white car in its shade. Sometimes I stand next to the trunk, under the long limbs, and trace the ridges of the bark with … Continue reading
Thanks, John Stek
A man I never knew helped change my life. John Stek, NIV Bible translator, died on June 6th at 84. In 1979 my family moved to Carson City, Nevada. At sixteen I was looking to find my way in the … Continue reading
Posted in Spiritual Life
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Christ Was Blessing Me, and I Didn’t Know It
Wednesday my soul was unraveling like a ball of yarn on the floor. The strings were all loose, and I couldn’t gather them together again. Two funerals coming up, a sermon percolating through my mind, parishioners to visit in the … Continue reading
Posted in Christ, Spiritual Life
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Walk the Labyrinth
Labyrinths appeal to the sort of people who find labyrinths appealing. This one takes 244 steps to reach the center. I walk around in circles in what seems a random and aimless way, constantly changing direction, but the path itself … Continue reading
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In Praise of Small Changes
In the May issue of Scientific American, Katherine Pollard summarizes current research on the DNA differences between humans and chimpanzees. We share about 99 percent of the 15 billion letters in the human genome with chimps. Pollard has been exploring … Continue reading
Posted in Science, Spiritual Life
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Migrating at Night
Anne Yarbrough at Nova Scotia Island Journal found an Indigo Bunting feeding near her fence. Quoting the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, she notes that this bird migrates at night, using the stars for guidance. It learns its orientation to the … Continue reading
Posted in Nature, Spiritual Life
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