"All of life is business with God…" John Calvin
This season of pandemic and isolation has produced much writing about lament, and rightly so. We are cut off from so much that was not only familiar, but also necessary. From fellowship with one another on personal and corporate levels (think, church), to school and work, most of what was normal in our lives has … Continue reading Think About These Things
Running, they say, is 90% mental. And the other 10% is also mental. Now, while that’s a bit of an exaggeration, I have learned over the past ten years that it’s not very far off the mark. It takes an act of the will, a mental decision, to get out of bed early in the … Continue reading Keep Running, Christian!
Three whole weeks ago, on Friday, March 13, 2020, we officially began our homebound exile from society. At first it was self-imposed, as my husband discovered that he had a fever (it was just a cold—he’s fine). On that day the alarms increased hourly in the news, and the need to isolate ourselves became as … Continue reading Poverty in Prayer
“Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet … Continue reading Remembrance and Hope
Dear Lisa, Well, it’s been a year since I learned that you’d gone. I thought today would be worse than it is. But now that I think about it, the sadness doesn’t hurt the same way it used to. It’s there, but it no longer chokes off my breath. The weight remains, but it no … Continue reading Well, It’s Been a Year. . .
Today the county in which I live issued an order to our local citizens to “Stay Home, Work Safe.” This means that we are to shelter-in-place, effective at midnight tonight. The phrase “shelter-in-place” carries an undertone of fear. There is something out there which is to be feared. Danger is lurking. Take cover. Find shelter. … Continue reading Refuge
Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray. —Psalm 5:1–2 “Would you please pray for me?” I’m sure you’ve not only received this request, but you’ve asked it yourself. Requests for prayer are not … Continue reading Let Us Pray
From my desk next to an upstairs window I have a view of the upper branches of one of our backyard trees. The tree is decked in her fresh, new Spring leaves. This morning the leaves are wet with rain and the wind is fitfully tossing the branches to and fro. And from my seat … Continue reading Are You Storm-Tossed And Weary?
On Sunday, January 5th, the first Lord's Day of the new year, our elder-led congregational prayer was focused on the most basic, but also most vitally important thing that we as individual Christians and as a church need: God's Word. I asked if I may reprint it here, as a reminder that our Only Wise … Continue reading How We Prayed
