hope

Lenten waiting

I have a worn index card in the front of my Bible with the words “wait on the Lord” on the front, followed by a list of verses. At some point a few years ago I decided, in the midst of the slow discovery of reading, to start writing down every time I came acrossContinue reading “Lenten waiting”

pain

Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me? Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34 Oh this ineffable moment of Christ’s despair on which hangs the lifetimes of our hope! In the most broken of circumstances, the most desperate of cries, we have never known a moment over which God’s handContinue reading “pain”

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”

a psalm

A few weeks ago I sat on a concrete roof in the early Sunday morning Peruvian sun and turned to the psalms. The ten of us in that circle were halfway through a three week trip and my co-leader and I wanted to lead the students somewhere intentional, somewhere that would help them think throughContinue reading “a psalm”

a candle of hope in a season of waiting

It was an interesting thing to flow straight from Thanksgiving into the first Sunday of advent this year. I know Thanksgiving as a holiday is a creation of our secular history, not the church, but I find its timing appropriate. Maybe I’ve never seen it as closely linked as this year, when the seasons practicallyContinue reading “a candle of hope in a season of waiting”

a reminder

It’s been silent here for a while. Not for lack of activity in life, I promise, but perhaps from a struggle to translate activity into word. Which is okay sometimes. The past few weeks have had a range of thoughts, emotions, and prayers – some high highs and some low lows. Some moments of feelingContinue reading “a reminder”