We’ve all had a waitress refill our coffee cup with the line, “Say when,” meaning let me know when to stop pouring. No “when” and we get a lapful of hot coffee, so we learn to say “when.” And I’m slowly learning that “saying when” applies to more than coffee...
Read More
image by Leilani Smith
Beauty in Hard Times
As many of you know, despite the abundant rain this last winter in NoCal, the drought continues in SoCal. A friend and former fellow teacher, Leilani Smith, started an interesting Facebook dialogue a week ago that revealed a truth of growing in Christ, right at the end. She posted a series of pics taken on a hike she took, including the one above, and this conversation ensued.
Leilani: So much sculpture on the trail this morning!
Me (as one who tries to see a spiritual hook in everything): The quality of the art ...
Read More
image from Psychology Today
Why Are We Here?
We find hints of God everywhere, even in Parade magazine, and some tantalize us with their implications. Marilyn vos Savant, whom Guinness' records as having the highest recorded IQ score, responded in her column to a question from a fellow Mensa member (Mensa members must have an IQ in the top 2%). The question had been discussed in the reader's group, "Why are we here?" Savant replied, "I think it depends on ...
Read More
image by worldinprayer.org
A Prayer Paradox?
Decades back I served a church in Lawndale as the college/career pastor, and although many of us have moved away from the South Bay, Facebook allows us to reconnect. One member of the group, Sheree Munday Wright, PMed a question which led to an intriguing discussion on a paradox in prayer. With her permission I'm sharing part of our discussion."Tim, please explain the difference between perseverance in prayer and ...
Read More
Spiritual Fluorouracil
Only the thin line of hair suggests the pic above is not an asteroid-pocked Martian landscape. But that was my forehead just two weeks ago. Three skin cancers over 20 years have made me an habitué of dermatologists who look for precancerous hard spots on my skin. The last time, she took a look, ran her fingers over my face, neck and arms, and gave up. "You have too many actinic keratoses for me to freeze. I want to prescribe a cream, Fluorouracil, that...
Read More
Follow Your Leader?
One entire day last week my wife and I shopped. For lighting fixtures for our bath and kitchen. Then, afternoon rush hour traffic in north San Diego County added a slow hour to our return. Likely one of the most exciting days of my life. So, to celebrate the joy, we mixed a couple of margaritas and relaxed by our waterfall to go over the day. Soon several birds landed on the fence behind the waterfall, and the count grew to seven. Cautious, wanting a bath, but leery of ...
Read More
Spiritual Planning
Plans sometimes get changed. Radically. My Sierra plans were to fish until late Friday, then to head home and miss the Friday traffic. The snow in the pic above forced a revision. Waking to 2" of snow in my campground made outdoor cooking problematic, so I threw all my wet gear in the back of the truck and headed home. Early. Not much later I walked into a Mickey D's in Lone Pine for coffee, only to meet a middle aged guy in shorts and a hoodie, "Are you a local?" ...
Read More
Sudoku Spirituality
Years back, one of my students got me hooked. On Sudoku. During study hall he pulled out a puzzle book and I wandered over, and that's all it took. The pic above shows a puzzle, and for those not aware of Sudoku requirements, you enter the numbers 1-9 in each box of 9 spaces, in each row and column, without any duplicates. You begin with some numbers filled in and you do the rest. Every possible number candidate gets placed in a box, then you ...
Read More