Events aren’t always what they seem. A brief snapshot out of time cannot include what comes next, the rest of the story. We judge single happenings too quickly, in our shortsightedness and finitude. This concept hit me last fall, and I’ve waited to share this until now, maybe it can impact how we view the events that followed Palm Sunday by five days….
Read MoreChaotic Devotions
I love Jesus. I appreciate personally knowing the transcendent Creator of the universe (one of my books, A Passionate Pursuit of God, focuses on this). I realize the need to nurture this relationship regularly. Not once a week, not even once a day, but moment by moment. And I’ve tried just about every method suggested by those who know. Daily devotion books. Christian living books. Study guides. Accountability partners. Practicing the presence. And they have all worked. Until…they didn’t. The flaw…
Read More
image from Danziger
Kissing Concrete
Snick. With the push of a button, the garage door descended. Snick. With another button, my new acquisition, a 2005 Honda ST1300, purred into life. This was my first long, break-in ride before I rode it to Glacier National Park. By day’s end, we rode 340 miles through the mountains and valleys and beaches, the ranches and farms and cities of Ventura and Kern Counties. I renewed a friendship from decades earlier, met a new riding partner, and reconnected with one from our summer touring group. But now all of us lay face down, kissing concrete, with multiple pistols pointed at our heads, with tense faces behind them…
Read More
East of Temecula from Temecula Valley Hospital
Random Musings about Mortality
The pic above, looking toward the mountains east of Temecula, was the best part of my hospital stay. The day before began with checking out emails on my laptop, when some lightheadedness began. No necessary link here, folks! Then I headed to the kitchen for a restorative cup of coffee, and my body veered to the left when I wanted to go right. A bit suspicious, I tried to walk the straight grout line on the tile—same result. So I did a quick mirror test for stroke signs, good. Next I stood on one leg and balanced, or tried to. Not good. As much as I resisted my own idea, I asked Sheila...
Read MoreExulting in Guilt
At times
I exult
in the pleasures of sin
blanking out the wrong
enjoying the illicit
caught in the moment
imagining that is all that is
But as pleasure fades...
Read More