when simon peter saw this, he fell at jesus’ feet. “go away from me, lord,” he said, “for i am a sinful man.” – luke 5:8 seems counterintuitive, eh? just when peter knew that he knew that jesus was lord, he told him to get away from him. but it makes sense to me. i
Categorythe presence of god
a collection of paths
a vision. god gives us a vision of dry ground becoming a pool of water. then we try to make it so. but it’s not so simple, it is not so straightforward. i have to become the vision before the vision is a real for me or for anyone else. how are you? how is the
seasonal heart
these days of muted light feel just about right. sometimes my heart feels wide open, easily accessible, like the bright blue. but not lately. no, when the sun gets further away, a thin sheet of ice weathered from the events and circumstances of the year forms. the thin places turn into visible pools of murky,
where is god?
i’m opening the clasp between four fingers, just at the tips. it is delicate work putting on a necklace. silver on the very edge of nail and then it’s behind my back and in my mind’s eye where this smallest loop is waiting. it comes to me that god is like this. these arguments that
i love to tell the story, because i know ’tis true
the faith and writing festival begins with chapel. i like a poet in the pulpit, leading with poems and prayers. we sing ‘come thou fount’ and i watch the singers first. then i look over to where the poet sat down and notice everyone’s mouths moving in unison. we’re sitting in the round and sure
nice to meet you
they told us to wake up and take our bibles out into the woods. they’d tell you which verses to read and the only requirement was that you had to be by yourself. i’d never done this, but each morning i went. i looked around and one by one my friends disappeared in between the
sometimes you make heavenly beings angry
i had a dream. every so often the god of the universe will talk to me in dreams. what’s up with that? when i think that god has better things to do than be concerned with the intimate details of my life, i reduce him to the level of human ability. god is big enough
the boy in the yard
he’s out there now by the mulberry tree. he stands and eats just like his dad and he found the tree along the new fence, in the new yard, at the new house. three days earlier i sat on the grass and heard the splash, heard the yelling. i jumped up once i pieced together
space for the uncontained god
i’m waiting for snow. the green exposed and the mud that’s been frozen and come thaw again is welcoming christmas eve this year. and i am like this. i am not as i should be. i’m the green grass of winter. i need to look just beyond, out the window behind your head and watch
hearts on display
some things aren’t anyone’s fault. sometimes there isn’t anyone to answer for tears that fall or harsh words said. sometimes all we can do is remember that everything isn’t done by human hands. it was a busy weekend and so i prayed for an hour. i asked god to give us one hour to take a