faith

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Hell Came Calling This Morning…

I know the title is shocking, perhaps, but my intention is far from profanity. The word “hell” was on the lips of Jesus Himself, a few times in scripture. Technically, it was another word in Aramaic that came to us translated as such. I seem to be regularly moving through a number of ongoing difficult and hellish situations. No day is one-hundred percent difficult, or one-hundred percent of anything. As CS Lewis noted, something along the lines of “we never...

On Election Day, We Speak Their NAMES

Have you ever found yourself speaking out loud on occasion, speaking into an empty room? Or mumbling aloud under your breath? Those that live alone, I’m sure, are likely more prone to this freedom of speech, and a variety of freedom of thought and sound… “Where are my keys?“ “Jesus.“ “What was I doing again…why did I come in here???” Today, many people will arrive at some polling place to speak names through marking a ballot. They will speak forth...

Linguistic Battles

Tonight in my YouTube feed this talk called Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality (with Jordan Peterson and Helen Joyce) came up and I listened all the way through. I think this is a worthy share. Dr. Peterson presents so much for consideration, drawing upon his deep expertise in the field of psychology and his own personal experiences of vitriolic response to his non-compliance. Equally, Helen Joyce, a British journalist, presents such keen observations and also tells of the vitriolic response...

Untethered Excursions

When I lived in Alabama I yearly attended and volunteered at a large hot-air balloon festival. There, I learned what a tethered balloon ride was and took one, maybe once or twice. Once a hot-air balloon lifts off the ground and the tethering rope is no longer keeping it within certain parameters from the ground, safe navigation is dependent upon the skill of the balloon pilot but also upon other variable conditions such as wind. On occasion, there are balloon...

An Unbeatable Hand (Job Chapter 6)

Years ago a friend explained the game of Texas Hold’em to me.  There were conceptual reasons and metaphors to be considered in the context of the conversation at that time.  And they also said I would probably make a good poker player because I was really smart. In many tangible ways my brain does work somewhat like a poker player – but probably more like a chess player. I have high conceptual strengths in both games but one of my...

Awakening in Ashes

This morning I count myself among the countless human beings that awake in ashes day-after-day-after-day, and continue in their unseen warzone. They awake to find themselves seemingly drafted and re-drafted day-after-day-after-day in some internal warzone that is well-grounded in external circumstances – and to some extent in the actions of other people. People watch from afar, yet only a few are able to bring us water like “good old grinnin’, gruntin’ Gunga Din…” Not that they wouldn’t bring us water...