The old paradigm is gone. It seems people no longer consider age a boundary marker. It used to be that “retirement” was regulated by years. Now we say, “Sixty is the new forty.” One student, who discovered my age, in an obvious lapse of decorum, intoned that I was “older than his parents.” Yeah. That
The line Between Here and There Now and Then Does not exist In the way We think, Enamored, As we are, With what We think. Instead Of what He thinks. The Majesty Of the moment Is in every Clock’s tick Our opportunity Our responsibility Our urgency To live As if Tomorrow We die [We will]
“How ya’ doin’?” is the general way the question is asked. People who ask it fall into categories. Some mean, “Hi.” The question becomes an informal greeting. The person isn’t expecting you to answer. Others wonder, truly, about your well-being. The individual is expecting a reply akin to “Fine, thank you.” Their interest is intentional,
My children dragged me kicking and screaming into poems and their poets in the 90’s. And I am ever thankful that they did. Now, I wonder if I could live without it, without expressing myself in it, without giving the poetry of Scripture its due. This week I discovered Marianne Moore, a modernist poet whose
202* Asterisk *stars* are used for emphasis instead of C*PITALIZING expunging the vowel in a prof*nity a symbol in c*lculation footn*tes in essays r*dialing the last call For all these reasons I will use the asterisk to mark This year. To expunge a day To multiply days To emphasize daily To footnote the date To
I sat on the deck Talking to him tonight Smoke and glass hand Telling him how much I miss him On this earth with me Ahead of the artic blast I shiver and shake Not for cold But for the absence The son who is On the Other Side To say
Before I open a book, this is what I do. Give me a minute to explain. Thomas Aquinas wrote “A Prayer Before Study” where he prayed, “Grant to me keenness of mind, capacity to remember, skill in learning, subtlety to interpret, and eloquence in speech. May you guide the beginning of my work, direct its
Weather is constantly changing. But we don’t like change. Give Me a Minute to explain why. In her letters Flannery O’Connor stated, “All human nature vigorously resists grace because grace changes us and change is painful” O’Connor’s ideas track with biblical truth. Grace is an undeserved, God-given gift, rescuing us from sin; but we like
What would you do? How far would you go? Give me a minute to explain. The word “commitment” reminds me of a scene in Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars: “To protect her Jewish friend, a Christian girl tears from her neck a gold chain bearing a Star of David and clenches it in her fist
The natural world comes from The Supernatural God. Give me a minute to explain. Did you know it takes all of your over 600 muscles plus your brain to make your body run? The human body plan explained by exercise scientists is fascinating! Did you know that the stealth fighter-bomber design was patterned after the
Decision making can be difficult. Give me a minute to suggest three questions that could help. How to respond and when to act are hard to know for certain. Here are three questions to ask yourself (1) CAN I? What is your time and place in the world. What vocational gifts have you been given?
What to say and how to say it. Give me a minute to explain my approach to social media. Here are seven of my approaches to social media. (1) I will *never* apologize for communicating a biblical mindset. (2) I will seek to begin with Scriptural doctrine applied to life. (3) My starting point will