I have been reminded of and pondering the fruit of the spirit again recently. The Fruits of the Spirit are an easy Sunday School object lesson. We are all familiar with, and most of us love to eat, fruit. Fruit is colorful, comes in various interesting shapes, and is delicious; and also provides sustenance. Who…
Tag: God’s Nature
Fragile How would it be if we were gentle with one another?
If you think about it, we’re all quite fragile. Some of us mask the fragility with bravado. We even put on a brave face for ourselves, attempting to convince not only the world but our own hearts that we are strong, capable, able, and unafraid. But the truth is that pseudo-confidence could be shattered by…
Reminders Little things can mean a lot
I have a story to tell you. It started with our oldest daughter wanting a different vehicle. Her recent luck with used vehicles purchased in NY state is abysmal. Each of them were corroded by rust beyond the point of reasonable usage within a year of her acquiring them. So we decided to look for…
Twenty Years Life Changes, God Does Not
A lot can happen in two decades.1 When I posted my first “blog” 20 years ago this date, I was a musician, writing, recording, and performing my songs anywhere and everywhere across the country. I was a young, recently-married father of two (with one on the way) who preferred air-conditioned, indoor life. A cup of…
Marriage: Great Risk, Great Reward It's not in what you get, but what you give. And give up.
Marriage is hard. If you’re soon to be wed and you hear those words, you eschew them as the trite acrimony of bitter people. That will never be true for us, you say to yourself, sure of the truth of your conviction. Without fail, you discover that the union of two lives into one is…
Volatile, Historic Times and the Spider Who Doesn’t Care
Righteous indignation on each side; blustery public diatribes backed by legal or biblical authority; verbal wars among foes and friends and family which take no idealogical prisonersāthis seems to be the state of current events. But this tiny spider doesn’t seem to know, or care. She’s not angry, or justified, or changing the color of…
Underneath The inside is what matters
Beyond our bodies, we’re all the same. Lately I have had an interesting experience when seeing photos of people, current or historical. Somehow in my mind, I am seeing (thinking of?) the person beneath the exterior. Wondering at what unknown depths there are to that particular individual; wondering how we might be similar. Not that…
New Beginnings
Do you notice that sometimes there are themes around you? I do. Every once in a while, many things around me (or even in me) will work in apparent concert toward some consistent message, idea, or theme. Lately, I am being pretty often reminded that life is full of new beginnings. And also that it…
God Is Good! All The Time!
Have you heard that as a cheer? We hear it when something “good” happens. We hear it less often when nothing good happens, and even less often when BAD things happen. But he is still good. I heard good news last week. In fact, the news was “good” to a whole region of people. Western…
Real Power
Strength. Power. Might. Words that have impact, weight, gravitas. Vivid pictures of great force and ability prominently display on the screen of our minds. Big, overwhelming, unstoppable, unbreakable. Powerful. We love strength. We need it. The events of our lives remind us so often that we lack control, ability… power and strength. And so we…