Friday, June 21 is the Summer Equinox this year, the day the sun reaches it’s highest and northernmost point in the sky. It is considered to be the first day of Summer. It is also the longest day, and the shortest night. Did you know that “Summer Resolutions” is a thing? There are all kinds…
Category: A Faith in Process
Notes from the Journey
Philippians 1: 15-19 NIV
Please read these verses in your own Bible or online (Bible Gateway: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+1%3A+15-19&version=NIV The notes are from my studies. v 15-18a Paul is not naïve. He sees that some preach out of love and some out of competitive envy and ambition. But it doesn’t matter; he lets God sort out the motives and keeps his…
The Wonky Diction of My Affliction
My family was also impacted by my illness. By all of it, actually, but hilariously by my difficulty with words. For instance, I could no longer grocery shop but I could write out a list. Sort of. (“What’s clery?” my son wanted to know. Or “I can’t read this, but Mom says it’s in this…
Treasure
“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” Matthew…
My Cousin, Misha
You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. Psalm 145: 116 NIV If Buffy, the first cat-encounter, was local, the next was long distance. The black and white stray, Misha, was more influential, too, although we never met him. He was our “second-hand” cat. Misha wandered into my mother’s life shortly…
Philippians 1:12-14 (NIV)
Please read these verses in your own Bible or online at Bible Gateway: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+1%3A+12-14&version=NIV The notes are mine. v 12 Paul takes the long view, seeing what happens to him through God’s eyes. (What has happened to him? Arrest, 2-year imprisonment, 4 trials. An appeal to Caesar (his right as a Roman citizen) sends him…
Rainy Day
My father used to quote this rhyme. The rain it raineth on the just And also on the unjust fella; But chiefly on the just, because The unjust steals the just’s umbrella. – Lord Bowen Charles Synge Christopher Bowen, Baron Bowen, (1 January 1835 – 10 April 1894) was an English judge.
Philippians 1: 7-11 NIV
Please read these verses in your own Bible or online (Bible Gateway: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+1%3A+7-11&version=NIV The notes are from my studies. v 7-8 Financial support, prayer support, friendship, fellow sharers of God’s grace. There is a special relationship between these Christians and Paul. Paul is not alone, whether imprisoned or on trial, for the Philippians share it…
Journey
(Written sometime in the summer of 1993, shortly after my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome diagnosis.) I am on a journey, a pilgrimage. I am not entirely sure when it began; I do not know where it will end. Right now, my reality is travel, or travail. For this is not only a physical journey; it is…
Suburban Fragrances
In the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade. Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation—an…