“The little strength remaining in the soul is like a spark hidden in ashes” Thomas a Kempis Our TV fireplace with it’s warm orange glow and crackling logs doesn’t change the room temperature, but with a little imagination you can almost believe there is heat. Add a few candles and some background music and you… Continue reading Crackling Logs
Tag: Jesus
Life That Lasts
I recall singing that old hymn, “Where the Roses Never Fade” at funerals. Tears fell down as people gathered to say their last farewell to a lost loved one. During those times, when words never seem enough, I’m always grateful for the promise of a life that never ends. I am going to a city … Continue reading Life That Lasts
Going Somewhere?
Sometimes we can feel like life is going nowhere. It is like the realization, when someone is travelling, that he has passed this way before, and he wonders, “Am I just going in circles?” Once in a while I look at myself and lament how little I have moved or changed on the inside, for… Continue reading Going Somewhere?
A Well-ordered Life.
Time to go; don’t be late. Leaving the house: got my gadgets, got my glasses, wore the right clothes, used mouthwash, locked the door, got my keys, oops. Once again the well-ordered life evades me. A new set of plans begins, call for a ride and worry about the keys later. Living a well-ordered life… Continue reading A Well-ordered Life.
The Bully and the Baby
Young Tom would come to class with a hat pulled down over his eyes, and he never smiled. In and out of foster homes for many years, this young boy was very lonely and very angry. Mean to his classmates, belligerent, disruptive in class – he had no friends. When the Roots of Empathy Instructor… Continue reading The Bully and the Baby
The Elusive Spirit
The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:8 Snow leopards are one of the world’s rarest, most elusive and little studied large animals. They are generally… Continue reading The Elusive Spirit
Risk Valuing Others
“There can be no peacemaking or social work or anything else to improve our world unless we are convinced that the other is important.” Jean Vanier. One person who sees the value in another can alter that person’s life. I would like to be that person to someone just as I have needed someone like… Continue reading Risk Valuing Others
Melting into God
The Great Slave Lake can be powerful and majestic when its mighty swells are driven by the winds, or it can be bleak and frozen and still like the winter ice. It is a marvel to me that a lake as vast as an ocean can become frozen over each winter. Yet, it is even… Continue reading Melting into God
Jesus in Disguise
Being present with people in conversation and living in the moment, isn’t always something that comes natural, at least to me. Perhaps this woolgathering comes from insecurities or my short attention span. Being on the introverted side of the personality scale, I know I can be less interested in small talk and tune out unless… Continue reading Jesus in Disguise
Increasing Our Heart Capacity
When I was buying a car battery at Walmart, I asked another man buying batteries for some advice, as he seemed knowledgeable. He told me about his home solar system that generates enough power to run most of the lights in his house. However, it lacked the storage capacity it needed to carry him through… Continue reading Increasing Our Heart Capacity