They wandered forty years in the desert, those Israelites who failed the test of belief in the God who raised up Moses, delivered them from the hand of Pharaoh, made bitter water sweet, fed them with manna, gave them the Law and instructions for a Tabernacle so they would know precisely where they could find… Continue reading Transformed by 40
Category: Pondering
Kindred Temptations
I spent a delightful evening last weekend with a new friend. We found we had many things in common, but huge among them was a particular vocational path. Both of us had started adulthood driven and quite successful. And all these years later our lives were much simpler, and not particularly impressive by cultural standards.… Continue reading Kindred Temptations
Desert Dwelling
There are those who dwell in the desert, not as yearly discipline, or as the unlooked for invitation when life becomes a dust bowl, or even as a place of refuge from whatever or whoever is nipping at our heels. The actual experience in the desert is nearly always hidden from observation. Others perceive, instead,… Continue reading Desert Dwelling
No Swinging During Lent
This Lent I can’t abstain from caffeinated coffee because I am not drinking it at all. But for years it has been a not so trivial way to help me step into the season of Lent. Not being a "morning person," my cup of coffee in the morning helps me wake up, and offers comfort… Continue reading No Swinging During Lent
Community
Does everybody love everybody?” My father’s booming baritone would sound with a faint hint of warning as his four teenagers would be scrambling for their preferred television channel, the comfortable couch, or worst of all, leg room in the station wagon.At the sound of this warning we would squelch our resentments temporarily and assume the… Continue reading Community
Favored Ones
"I renounce the lies the enemy tells us about you, dear Father of Jesus." The scene? A Saturday afternoon as our class on the Sacred Actions and Ministries of Worship gathered in a little historic chapel at the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies (IWS) for a service of baptismal renewal. The teaching on… Continue reading Favored Ones
Food Freedom
During my New Year's week in the hospital for gut issues I was seen by several doctors. Each of them had a different set of instructions on if and/or what I could eat or drink. I would have orders reversed more than once in the same day. One meal I ate what I wanted. The… Continue reading Food Freedom
Four Fiats
No, I've not taken to writing new slogans for Italian made cars that can be trusted. That is a Fi-at'. I am writing instead about fi'-at, the great "let it be done" in redemptive history. This fiat is not a resigned acceptance, a sort of spiritualized "que sera, sera, whatever will be will be." Rather… Continue reading Four Fiats
A Merciful Silence (Zechariah Part 1)
Resignation is a soul-deadening, light-obscuring posture of the soul. There is a hopeless inevitability in it that slowly shuts the door to God's comforting light. When Zechariah the priest entered the temple to burn incense that day a double-portion of resignation is residing in his soul. As an Israelite, he is the member of a… Continue reading A Merciful Silence (Zechariah Part 1)
Zechariah’s Song (Zechariah Part 2)
His name is John...that caused a stir—and then it got even more interesting. Nine months of silence had been very good for Zechariah’s soul. And when he opened his mouth, his words had not a trace of doubt left in them. He blesses God. “And fear came on all their neighbors.” What would this child be? Zechariah’s song… Continue reading Zechariah’s Song (Zechariah Part 2)
Carla Waterman 