One Pump, Two Trees, and Eleven Tons of Gravel
Does this sound like an interesting recipe? These three elements describe the bare bones of a more-than-two-month winter backyard project which came to completion this weekend. It began as the relatively simple desire to replace two trees which had to be removed and...
Cracked Hearts
Valentine’s Day is this week. I have pondered this day in another post a couple of years ago. This year, I want to reflect on hearts, collections, and what they can reveal to us. Back in December, I went on a hike with a friend and her friend. Her friend collects...
What Winter Gives: Memorial Edition
Ten days ago, I flew to Denver to accompany a dear friend through part of the grieving process following the death of her husband. The memorial service was on Saturday, but I arrived early to support her in various ways. I and another friend helped her work through...
Contemplating the Difference between Rest and Stillness
As I noted two weeks ago, I’m pondering the theme of rest in this winter season. It’s ironic because winter here in the Sonoran Desert isn’t about stillness. It actually means an increase in activity on a number of levels. Tucson’s population swells in winter because...
Pondering What Winter Gives, Even in the Desert
Two weeks ago, a friend and writer colleague, Kelsea Habecker, began a winter writing/posting project on Instagram with the hashtag #whatwintergives. Living in the Sonoran Desert, I find that winter gives some rain and relatively cooler temperatures (sometimes even...
Finance-Dominated Capitalism and Restful Christianity
Back during Advent, members of St. Philip’s Beloved in the Desert community shared some presentations on the theme of Rest (one of seven elements in the Episcopal Way of Love being pondered and practiced in churches across the country). One of those presentations...
Epiphany and the Revelation of the Reign of God
I love it when my work and my blogging connect in unexpected ways. It happened a few days ago when I was writing a reflection for Liturgical Press on Luke 19:11–28. In this passage, Jesus is near Jerusalem and being pestered by people who presume that the Reign of God...
So, What about that Second Coming of Christ?
Merry Christmas! It’s still Christmastide, and I hope you are still living in the Christmas spirit, even if the culture around us has already moved on. In this Christmastide, I’m pondering a recent conversation about the second coming of Christ. After all, Christmas...
Receiving Guests as Christ
Christmas is only a couple days away. I’m concluding my Advent meditation series of reflections on a recent Border Summit by pondering a powerful concluding presentation by a friend and colleague, the Rev. Paul Moore, whom I’ve mentioned before. He addressed the...
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