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The Anatomy and Physiology of Thankfulness

Being thankful is a choice we make—and it comes with a complex constellation of consequences. “Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles, and pray at all times.” Romans 12:12 This Bible verse was written in pencil on a torn piece of an index card and stuck in the upper right hand corner of my dresser mirror while I was an adolescent and a teenager. This scrap of Divine direction helped to order my young life. The commitment to such thankful living came from a place of both plentitude and pain. As a survivor of sexual violence … Read the full post

Waking Up White

Building beloved community starts with telling the truth about who we are and how racism has shaped our lives.

Yoga and the Incarnation

“In the beginning was the Word, and Word was with God, and the Word was God… All things come into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people… And the Word became flesh and lived among us.” –From John 1:1-4, 14 The following is a point of view article I sent today to the Raleigh News and Observer in hopes that they will publish it in response the AP article about the President of Southern Baptist Seminary and … Read the full post

A Blanket at (for) the Very Least

“And when was it that we saw you naked and gave you clothing?…Truly I tell you that just as you did this for one of the least of these in my family, you did it for me.” From Matthew 25: 38-40 I feel guilty about the homeless man on the church porch last night. I didn’t want to just leave him lying there. I wanted to make sure he was ok, but I was alone and it was night. I knew he was there because when I opened the door to leave the church he was laying right in front … Read the full post

Providential Symmetry

Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In God’s house there are many dwelling places…where I am there you will be also.” —from John 14:1-3 Providential symmetry. That’s what I call moments when life is integrated with an almost eerie (or ethereal) re-membering of space/place/passage of time. I had one of these brushes with the Divine geometry that links lifetimes and the goad toward purpose/insight/understanding of who we are as I was driving home from the opening football game of UNC’s 2010 season. This game had been a gut-wrenching experience from start … Read the full post

The Fragrance Principle

God uses us to make the knowledge of Christ spread everywhere like a sweet fragrance. for we are like a sweet smelling incense offered by Christ to God which spreads among those all—those who delight, those who are so far away… Who then is capable for such a task? God sent us, so we speak with sincerity, as Christ-followers. –adapted from 2 Corinthians 2: 14ff We are a sweet smelling fragrance, speaking with sincerity. This metaphor puts us alongside gardenias and lilacs—living ones who can communicate Divine Love with unfiltered immediacy. Fragrances of love, compassion, hope, healing wafting in … Read the full post

Like Willows By Flowing Streams

Thus says the LORD who made you, who formed you in the womb and will help you… For I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground I will pour my spirit upon your descendents, and my blessings on your offspring. They shall spring up like a green tamarisk, like willows by flowing streams. –from Isaiah 44: 1-4 I can’t remember my life making more sense than when I had a nursing newborn. What I needed to do with my time was so clear—feed the baby, change the baby, help the baby get to sleep, … Read the full post

Hear my prayer

Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry come to you… I am like an owl of the wilderness, like a little owl of the waste places. I lie awake; I am like a lonely bird on the housetop… My days are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass… But you, O LORD… endure through all generations. You will have compassion… You will regard the prayer of the destitute, and will not despise their prayer… Let this be recorded for all generations to come… that God came close to the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners, … Read the full post

Presbyterians and Pleasure

Protect me, O God; I trust in you for safety. I say to God, “You are my God; all good things I have come from you.” How excellent are God’s faithful people! My greatest pleasure is to be with them. Those who rush to other gods bring many troubles on themselves. I will not take part in their sacrifices; I will not worship their gods. You, God, are all I have, and you give me all I need; my future is in your hands. How wonderful are your gifts to me; how good they are! I praise God, because … Read the full post

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