Creative Meaning Maker
Our new home in Florida faces west, with a bog between our patio and the tops of these trees. I looked up from reading one evening and the sky was on fire. I grabbed my phone and snapped away. I was not prepared for the explosive beauty I captured so effortlessly in that moment. I… Continue reading Sunset Spirituality
If God just made a "mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all" kind of selection in choosing Jesus' mother, then Mary is so far beyond our experience that there is no point in pondering her response to God. She was just a superior sort of being. But if it is God's… Continue reading Supreme Activity
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
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
"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
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
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
We meet Jill Poole in a moment not unlike Martha’s first encounter with Jesus. While controlling Martha encounters an unmoveable Lord, foolish Jill encounters an unmoveable Lion. Her offence? Showing off at the end of a cliff until her friend, Digory, fell over trying to rescue her. A huge, bright coloured animal bounded up and blew with his… Continue reading There is No Other Way
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
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
Carla Waterman 