Dear Christians at the feet of Trump: Don’t Forget King Saul
I know many of you may be burning inside. Flags of God flying high in your hearts, prayers rising like incense for the unborn, or the lack of organized prayer in schools, or against the pledge of consenting adults to live a life of love and faithfulness together..
I see you.
The First 3 Christmas Gifts: A Little Life Encouragement
It’s been a rough year. Some of us have lost so much. Lives, livelihoods.. but dammit, we can’t lose hope. Covid has turned our world upside down, but there have also been some bright spots, like really “seeing” people.
But as the year closes, gratitude and Gift-giving are on some minds. I thought a reflection on the first “Christmas” gifts might boost us all. Who doesn’t like a gift?
I’ll start with this: the gifts given to Jesus are gifts for each of us.
WordPlay #3 : Liberty-Library-Libra just like Freedom-Books-Justice
If you live across cultures you can stumble on language quirks– words your brain hears or sees differently than intended simply because you’re not a native speaker.
Last time I flagged Vote/Stem/Stemmen/Tuning –where “Stem” is Dutch for “vote,” and multiple votes is the equivalent of the English “tuning.” Our votes should thus “tune” the instruments in power. (but how many Listen?).
My Octopus Teacher: Unexpected Siren on Love vs. Law
🕑 5 minutesOh dear, I saw My Octopus Teacher on Netflix and had such a strong reaction I had to walk–I couldn’t finish.
Like when everyone started turning to ash in Avengers: Infinity Wars. By the time Peter Parker was blowing away, I was eyeballing the Exit at the bottom of the theatre.
My Octopus Teacher was worse. It was real life.
Ok, Rewind.
Get Hard? Life Lesson from Gold
🕑 4 minutes
Imagine a child has a strict teacher and shares their struggle with the parent/caretaker. The adult may say, ‘Chin up! This experience is prepping you for the real, cruel world.’ Or maybe the parent takes action and inquires with the teacher or school.
Or maybe the parent tells the kid their presence actually helps break the cruel world–they are challenging to the teacher’s way of working/thinking.
Life throws so many hits we may be tempted to “Get Hard.”
Hope & Community: 7 Bright Spots from the Covid Lockdown
🕑 5 minutes
No one toasting New Year’s Eve could imagine that a global lockdown would become part of our human experience.
For all the troubles and straight up grief, the Covid lockdown has also sparked new ways to connect, deeper connections, and a greater appreciation for one another, including strangers.