adriennehope

Last Words

A Good Friday Tenebrae service is my favorite of the church year. It’s an ancient tradition which has taken different shapes but consistently features the extinguishing of candles throughout the course of the service, usually ending in full darkness and silence. It’s not a tradition I grew up with, however, so I remember distinctly theContinue reading “Last Words”

Incarnation

I missed an exit and hit the steering wheel in frustration. The irony of that moment was not quickly lost: on my way to a personal, silent retreat for the weekend I was painfully demonstrating my need of it. The past week had personified freneticism, with calendar events and responsibilities running over and into eachContinue reading “Incarnation”

oneness.

One Sunday a few months ago I slipped in late to the back of church. Home just one day from five weeks in the woods, I felt like a stranger in this life, this city, these clothes. I didn’t even have the strength to sing for most of the service; just enough to stand andContinue reading “oneness.”

hope

the waiting dim of advent felt especially dark this year. the valley of the shadow of death was oh too real – some gone. some going. all of us not as strong as we think we are. the world, and its news, felt weary. relentless. and its Babel sounds, Babel grasping, Babel pride…exhaustively deafening. ourContinue reading “hope”

enough.

Last night I realized that I’ve been slapping God in the face. It’s a harsh metaphor, perhaps. But that was how strongly I felt it. I was at Bible study and we were talking about the blessings that are ours in Christ. Righteousness. Freedom. No condemnation. Redemption. Eternal glory. Verse after verse after verse…”for thoseContinue reading “enough.”

for my friend, on her wedding day

I woke up early this morning, easing out of bed and lacing up sneakers to slip out into the dawn. Down the driveway and onto the road I ran into the early stillness, the mist swirling around the edges of the woods like steam, the air quiet, the broken blacktop empty. I rounded the cornerContinue reading “for my friend, on her wedding day”

Easter weekend

Thursday As often as the story seems to start with the lone figure, bleeding in the garden it really began yesterday and every day before. I forget to remember, vision narrowed in my circumstantial tunnel that He was in the beginning with God. With God. Eternally present, He entered time. Do I feel the acheContinue reading “Easter weekend”

a day on the trail

4:45 am, the square numbers of my watch alarm flash at me in the darkness. I silence it and lay still for just a moment, listening to the soft breathing of the students next to me, the rhythmic waves of an ocean that never sleeps, the occasional bird, and other than that…nothing. I slip outContinue reading “a day on the trail”

well-traveled

Well-traveled, these paths are. Though it seems we never walk them the same way twice. Or perhaps it is everything else that changes; the trees and the weather, the season, the burdens we carry, the tiredness of our feet; while the path – the path is the same, beaten smooth by the journey of sharedContinue reading “well-traveled”

the waiting joy of Christmas

We stood tonight in the dimmed light, candles flickering in our hands, and the organ soft, just enough to guide our voices. The familiar words washed over like comfort, one of my favorite moments of Christmas each year, and always I want the song to last longer than it does. There’s something about that spaceContinue reading “the waiting joy of Christmas”