For the Time Being

For the Time Being

(A reflection from the conclusion of Things We’ve Handed Down: Twelve Letters I Leave for You, based on the book, For the Time Being, by Annie Dillard.) We don’t always notice it while it’s happening. The sacred, silent passing of truth. The gentle, sometimes gritty...
A Long Obedience in the Same Direction

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction

(Thoughts from chapter twelve in Things We’ve Handed Down: Twelve Letters I Leave for You, based on the book A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson.) We live in a culture of instant everything. Quick clicks. Fast results. We want it...
Why I Wake Early

Why I Wake Early

(Thoughts from chapter eleven, Things We’ve Handed Down: Twelve Letters I Leave for You, based on the book, Why I Wake Early, by Mary Oliver.) Everything important doesn’t begin with a shout. Some begin with a whisper. A slow inhale. A quiet light spreading...
Wishful Thinking

Wishful Thinking

(Thoughts from chapter ten of Things We’ve Handed Down: Twelve Letters I Leave for You, based on the book Wishful Thinking by Frederick Buechner.) There are writers whose words feel like home. Frederick Buechner is that kind of writer for me. Not just an author...
Hope Has its Reasons

Hope Has its Reasons

(Thoughts from chapter nine of Things We’ve Handed Down: Twelve Letters I Leave for You, based on the book, Hope Has It’s Reasons, by Rebecca Pippert.)  Hope. Not the flimsy kind of hope we tape onto our lives like a bandage....