Captivated Puffy white lambs in the sky. Iridescent dragonflies. Furry bees. Jewel birds flitting and fluting the forest with warbles and calls. A plush rabbit’s coat. Moist velvet tickle of a horse’s nose. He, smooth, agile, muscular climbing a palm. These globes just above me hanging from this tree God has forbidden their glossy roundness… Continue reading SJT – Doubt (Captivated)
This week's theme Spiritual Journey Thursday word "REDEMPTION" had me scratching my head at first. I know the traditional religious meaning of the word "redemption" is the rich concept of salvation from sin through the atonement of Christ. But one also hears the word redemption used in another way. I read or hear it used… Continue reading SJT – Redemption (Midwife Openings)
Mercy is one of those words we bandy about so freely in Christian culture, it becomes almost invisible. I gained a fresh appreciation of its richness when I looked it up in the dictionary before writing this post: Mercy: 1. Kind or compassionate treatment of an offender, adversary, prisoner etc. in one's power; compassion where… Continue reading SJT – Mercy (In the DNA)
Annie Vallotton “I drew some of the drawings eighty to ninety times before I achieved the one I wanted. I wanted to get to the truth, which is the most important thing.” Annie Vallotton ( from an interview on the Bible Illustration Blog) Pharisee stands tall hands clasped over robed paunch beatific smile on heaven-raised… Continue reading Annie Vallotton
Next to the beginning of the new calendar year, the beginning of September is the time we make the most changes in our lives. The kids start a new school year. All kinds of activities from kids' soccer to adult classes get underway. If we've moved, we'll be exploring a new neighborhood. If we've decided… Continue reading How to look for a church
A few months ago I heard Phil Vischer (creator of Veggie Tales) tell in a video lecture how his veggie empire and the dream of his film studio becoming the Christian Disney came crashing down. He was devastated.He came through that time wiser and having learned some lessons. I took a few notes as I… Continue reading Agenda-Less
Today is the first day of the new school year in our part of the world. As the day after our last official summer holiday, Labour Day, it definitely feels like an end and a beginning—even for us who no longer go to school or have to brave the commute to work. Today's poem is… Continue reading A Shalom Blessing
Happy Fall and welcome to September! The past few months of relative quietness here have been a period of thinking for me. I've asked myself, why do I do this--write, especially poetry? Why do I post it here? Do I want to keep doing this? This June before holidays I lived under a cloud of… Continue reading Denial
Happy St. Patrick's Day! The Prayer of St. Patrick I arise today Through the strength of heaven; Light of the sun, Splendor of fire, Speed of lightning, Swiftness of the wind, Depth of the sea, Stability of the earth, Firmness of the rock. I arise today Through God's strength to pilot me; God's might to… Continue reading St. Patrick’s Prayer
Seventy-five years ago, in December of 1939, Britain was at war. It's easy to forget, knowing what we do today, that at the time no one knew how that war would end. That year in his Christmas message King George VI ended his 9-minute broadcast with the lines of an obscure poem by a little-known… Continue reading The Gate of the Year
Violet Nesdoly 