Blog
image from SFGate
Jesus. A real person. Anchored in history. Four biographies written by his contemporaries. All attest he was the Son of God. But what does he look like? In most depictions in America he looks Caucasian. Shop for a velvet painting in Tijuana—Hispanic. I’ve seen images of him as black, Asian, about all. We all seem to envision him like ourselves, and I kind of like that. But…
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image by Pixabay
Thanking God for a Purposeful World
In researching a book proposal I came across a quote by Jean Paul Sartre, “Without God, we are condemned to be free…Everything is indeed permitted if God does not exist, and man is in consequence forlorn, for he cannot find anything to depend upon either within or outside himself.” Or, we have no purpose beyond a relentless pursuit of personal pleasure and advancement.” Kind of describes our culture—a zero sum game where we compete for who gets the most. That’s life without God, but…
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image by Newtrition New You
Although they’d never admit it publicly, among themselves pastors often confess, “I really love the church. But I sure struggle with some of the people.” And we’re all like that, being imperfect with some rough edges. Science defines friction as two uneven surfaces that rub against one another, producing heat.” We can all relate to that. However…
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Words by Melody Beattie, image from quotefan
The brevity of Thanksgiving has long troubled me. One day. And really, just a moment there, with a quick prayer of thanks before feasting with the family begins, before old stories are remembered and new ones get shared, before we chew down a handful of Tums. Then a good friend, Murray Pura, piqued my thoughts by posting a Canadian Thanksgiving menu covering four days. Why can’t we focus on…
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image by Mark Terrill and AP
Young adults enjoying the dancing at College Country night at the Borderline Bar in Thousand Oaks. Several there had survived the Las Vegas shooting just a year before. Then some pops were heard, some thought balloons or doors slamming. But some recognized the source: gunshots. Before the firing ceased, 11 attenders and a sheriff’s deputy lay dead. But, as so often happens, good rose. Here’s one example, and what we can all learn…
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The face of Salvation Mountain
God moves in unexpected ways through minor events. While we dined in a Palm Springs restaurant, I spotted three paintings of local scenes on the opposite wall. One colorful pic intrigued me, so I consulted our waiter. He knew it was close, maybe 40 miles away, at Slab City, an abandoned military fort where snowbirds and unreconstructed hippies and artists roamed. That pretty much exhausted his knowledge. A little research revealed the name, Salvation Mountain and directions and distance—about 80 miles. Even so, we took off one afternoon to…
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image from classicboat.co.uk
OK, I may get the nautical terms wrong, or just not use them, but I AM a landlubber with merely three sailing experiences. My first came when good friends and former neighbors, Ray and Carol Ann, invited Sheila and me to join them for a day on the water with their sailboat. The air rushed past my face as we flew into the wind. One side lifted as we turned, reminding me of taking a tight turn on my motorcycle, but somehow even more thrilling. The joy of “driving” it, and handling one of those wild turns as my wife screamed “Slow down!” in fear, even as Ray encouraged me on. Finally…
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image by Andy Scheer
A good friend, Andy Scheer, put up this pic with the tag, “In another hour, the individual dried split peas will have disappeared, leaving in their wake a wonderful, creamy soup.” Not only did it make me begin to salivate, that post of Andy’s gives a nice extended metaphor for following Jesus. Heat. Heat transformed dried or raw foods into a delectable soup. Back in high chemistry with John Gunning, I discovered that heat…
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