Every Independence Day we celebrate our country's freedom to act, speak and live as we choose but that does not mean we are truly free. I propose that the most central, albeit hidden, bondage is the captivity of our minds. In my last blog I listed four different kinds of unruly thoughts that can capture… Continue reading Hidden Freedom (Part 2)
Category: Songs of Assent
I Will Not Forget These Stories
My teaching colleague and I arrive first in the classroom on this particular morning. She engages many of her students as they shuffle into her World Religions course at a local community college. At one point five beautiful Muslim girls come in together--heads covered with lovely scarves, chattering away to each other and to their… Continue reading I Will Not Forget These Stories
Listening to Lucy
Well, there’s just this,” said Edmund, speaking quickly and turning a little red. “When we first discovered Narnia a year ago—or a thousand years ago, whichever it is—it was Lucy who discovered it first and none of us would believe her. I was the worst of the lot. I know. Yet she was right after… Continue reading Listening to Lucy
Mary’s Path
Her story began in earnest with a clarion call from an angel. “Don’t be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.” But not too many chapters in, the plot got more complicated. An old man in the temple recognized this unique family for who they were, rejoiced that the Lord has allowed him “to see thy salvation” and then… Continue reading Mary’s Path
Light unto My Path
As a young child of the 60’s, I loved the “Sword Drills” in my Baptist Church. We would grasp on to our Bibles with tense expectancy until the teacher would call out a verse to find. And off we would go, scrambling to find the golden page that won us points, a certain amount of notoriety, and, at… Continue reading Light unto My Path
The Wisdom of a Scribe
Today I had two encounters about speaking the truth in love. In both conversations the parties were wrestling with the burden of carrying wisdom that others were not yet ready to hear. What is the good of wisdom if it is not immediately transferable? We read Jesus’ brief parable: “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of… Continue reading The Wisdom of a Scribe
Our Sun and Shield
This morning I sat out in my garden–well, to be accurate, I sat bundled up in my garden, with a crocheted shawl flung around my head, a tartan plaid enveloping my shoulders and a old fleecy blanket tucked around my knees. But I was IN my garden, hearing the birds, feeling the wind, enjoying the beauty of a long-yearned… Continue reading Our Sun and Shield
Ponderings and Good Soil
Mary is not only reflective during her 9 months of waiting. She is a ponderer--holding her experience close to her heart and waiting to see what it all might mean. Her reflections burst into joy with Elizabeth, but remain hidden when, later Mary treasures up what the shepherds have said and ponders their meaning in… Continue reading Ponderings and Good Soil
Reorienting
If you were to ask my younger sister and illustrator if there was anything tentative in me with respect to the title of what is now Songs of Assent, she would begin her humorous romp through every title that was, in its season, the absolute right one. I had nine months of writing to name this creative baby...and it took… Continue reading Reorienting
Riding the Ripples
From one angle of vision, Mary’s rebounding “do whatever He tells you” illumines the kind of peace so anchored in her trust in Jesus that she could hold lightly to her plans and wait in harbor for her Son’s next move. But from another direction, her initial commentary at the wedding in Cana was itself a risk. Once the… Continue reading Riding the Ripples
Carla Waterman 