This fall I am teaching a study from Labor Day to Thanksgiving on Christian wisdom. I have been intrigued by various reactions to this topic as it has come up in the recent past. “I am teaching a class on Christian wisdom... “ “So, you are going to teach on Proverbs?” “No, I am going to teach on wisdom.… Continue reading Tasting Wisdom
Category: Biography
Tattooed
I got on the plane after another gloriously intense session of the Institute for Worship Studies. IPod and book in hand, I sat down next to a strong, muscular guy in his early 30’s. His earbuds were dangling from the collar of his t-shirt. Thought: This is going to be a quiet ride. Reality: It was a voyage on the… Continue reading Tattooed
Tell Me Your Sorrows
"I must be the unluckiest boy in the world." So thought Shasta, as he found himself walking next to yet another lion. He was lost in the darkness, alone on a lonely path, and accompanied only by the rhythmic breathing of a large lion. "Tell me your sorrows," said the Lion. And so Shasta told… Continue reading Tell Me Your Sorrows
Temptation and Imagination
Temptations are not independent agents in our souls. They do not gain access, sweep aside all reason, all good desires and hold a hostile take-over. There is no such thing as “the devil made me do it.” “I allowed to the devil to get his way” is much more accurate. Whether temptations come from familiar places within our… Continue reading Temptation and Imagination
The Desert Under Our Feet
In the whole story of our lives, it is good to visit the desert once a year in Lent as a spiritual discipline that cleanses and opens us to receive again the wonder of Christ’s cross and resurrection for us. But sometimes the desert doesn’t wait for the church calendar. Our life circumstances change: I lose a… Continue reading The Desert Under Our Feet
Those Little Beasties: A Theological Reflection on Ticks
Samwise at the beach My rescue puppy, Samwise, is now a year old. His coat has grown into something between a Poodle and a Maltese-very thick and curly. His personality is marked by much creative mischief and an insatiable desire to roll on his back in our backyard. I can deal with the missing slipper… Continue reading Those Little Beasties: A Theological Reflection on Ticks
Thoughts on Regret
In the attempt to make my market-appropriate bland walls inhabitable, I went in search of some cheap, decent art that went with beige. I kept running into posters with the slogan "Live without regret." Live without regret? Everywhere I go, including the recesses of my own heart, I find plenty of regret lurking in the… Continue reading Thoughts on Regret
Tolling Wisdom
A tolling buoy in the Atlantic Ocean. I just spent a week on an island off the coast of Maine, as close to the water as was physically possible without living in it. I saw sea gulls and sunsets, waves and rocks. But what I heard was a bell. A small rocky island just off… Continue reading Tolling Wisdom
Uninvited Solitude
I've had an uninvited visitor in my home for the past several days. She isn't visible to anyone but God and me. Her visit began with a rather unwelcome, but much needed, departure. Nearly two weeks ago my husband dropped everything to be with his ailing mother across the country. My son is here, but… Continue reading Uninvited Solitude
Walking in What Is
This weekend I am leading a retreat based on Psalm 86:11. This verse is the heart of this intense psalm of supplication: “Teach me your ways, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth. Unite my heart to you that I may fear your name.” I’ve spent much time reflecting upon the flow of this small, powerful prayer: first from instruction… Continue reading Walking in What Is
Carla Waterman 