What are you longing for this Lent?
I went for a run this week in the woods. The subzero weather has abated, and things are beginning to melt. But the path shaded by tall, bare trees remains hidden from sunlight, and still [...]
Lead with your ears
Today we begin our 2021 Lenten series. Let's talk about this, the strangest Lenten season ever, and walk through it together. What practices do you want to engage? What do you want to let go [...]
How has the pandemic formed you?
On a Zoom call with my long-time running buddy Maryam this morning, the day in between her birthday and mine, we looked back at a year. Would we have imagined a year like the one [...]
Beef stew as self-care: winter blues help for empty nesters
This is the first in an occasional series on empty nesting, or as my friend Tim likes to call it, spacious nesting. Outside, the soft pewter sky of winter afternoon spits down a thin, bitter [...]
The surprising gift of silence
This is a loud season, full of good busy and hard questions, for most of us. Even as we strive for simplicity, we see others for whom "simplicity" is not a choice but their only [...]
Waiting for the light of freedom
Advent is a time of waiting, and at our border (and indeed, at other borders around the world), travelers are waiting, now, for the chance to find new life. They are waiting for the chance [...]
Advent: Coming of the King of Peace
This Advent, gather with us in this space. Take a moment to breathe, to read very short reflections, to consider the ties between this ancient tradition and the challenges and joys of our current situation. [...]
Where is God? A lesson from bulbs
“Where is God in this mess?” “Does God even hear my prayers?” In my work as a pastor, I hear these kinds of questions a lot. And in some of the situations where I sit [...]
A springtime gift for your soul: Sabbath
Winter seems unwilling to yield to spring here in the Midwest, and I know we all feel weary. A month ago, my crocuses bloomed. Crocuses This week, we're getting snow. Check out this [...]
The surprising secret of transformation
I slip into my silent, dark house, shedding wet running shoes and jacket. In the kitchen, I pour a cup of coffee from the pot I made earlier and microwave it back to life. I [...]
