The Blessings of Vacant Chairs, Houses, and Selves
Vacant: a position not filled, empty premises, a person with no expression. How can vacant chairs, houses, and selves be blessings? Vacant Chairs All of us have them, the empty chairs at family gatherings: grandparents, parents, sometimes siblings and children....
Engage: to bind with, attract, participate, become involved
Engage The word “engage" stems from the French word “engager,” meaning to bind. And "engagement" in the context of marriage refers to a formal promise or pledge to marry. Keith announced our engagement at his retirement from the government in 2003 and gave me a...
What the Bible, a writer, and a pastor say about the journey
My journey in the past few days has been defined by a flu-like bug. Slow recovery like the first signs of spring here at Vanaprastha. A quiet journey rather than the drama we often read about. A biblical journey Take Elijah. Queen Jezebel had said she would...
Pursue: March Featured Guest Post for Five Minute Friday
“Let's go with the writing prompt, PURSUE,” Five Minute Friday founder Kate Motaung said in her email. Kate had invited me to write a featured guest post for March, since I’m a regular FMF participant. “Could you please send me your five-minute freewrite, your...
Reflections on Original: the Garden, the Fall, and Sin
“Poor things," I muttered, “all because of the original sin.” I was clearing dead leaves from struggling herbs in pots and ground cover in landscape beds. We use the word “original” to refer to something existing from the beginning, as in an original...
Everyone worships; the only choice is what to worship
It’s easy to worship God and praise Him for the beauty of His creation, even when it’s cold and there’s snow on the ground. It’s also easy to worship idols, often without realizing that’s what we’re doing. Today, reflections on worship from David Zahl, David Foster...