"This is the great message of the Christian faith: that God loves us and that nothing can separate us from this love. You don't need to earn it. There is nothing you can do to stop it. There is nothing you need to do to receive it, save accept it as the free gift it […]

It's a late summer day, the air is sweltering, silent, still -- but you take your almost-one-year-old puppy for a walk anyway, for she is a tad stir-crazy due to the rain. Nothing much happens on your walk. You're a little bored. Blah, blah, blah, just another day. Yet, when you walk back up your […]

We were at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota last week for a physical tune-up of sorts. In the middle of the marble-floored, high-ceilinged, main lobby area a pianist dressed in scrubs was playing her heart out. The simple melody floated through the open space. We stopped, grateful for a break from tests and appointments, […]

The hard part Is to find yourself at home with where and what you are And still remain amazed. (John Koethe, "Beyond Belief") We live in a trance so much of the time, don't we? Here, but not here. Restless, never really at home. We carry around a vague sense of unhappiness with who we […]

Wake up late because your white noise machine drowned out your alarm. Have your new alarm be your husband of 40 years waking you by rubbing your feet. Stumble out of bed, throw on your clothes from yesterday, including your late father-in-law's delicious flannel shirt. Reheat yesterday's coffee in your second favorite mug because you […]

Faith deconstruction seems like a natural by-product of life. The faith of our childhood, our young adulthood, should morph, change, and become more mature. If I still have the faith of an 18-year old at age 58, something went seriously wrong. Over three years ago I left a church I loved and was a part […]