The story of the Prodigal Son is one of the most familiar in the Bible. It is so rich in meaning that no matter how well we know it, we need now and then to take another look at it. Before we rehearse that story, I ask you a question, what is the central truth in the...
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The Committed Life
In a recent blog post, The Purpose of Purpose I talked about the bottom line of commitment, so I would not argue whether purpose gives us commitment, or commitment gives us purpose. Just for focus, I’ll use the word commitment. One of my favorite writers is David...
Photographed by Tami Johnson
Pay Attention
As a child, a word I often heard from a teacher or my Momma was, “Now pay attention.” That’s a word we need to hear and pay attention to throughout life. OK, Now pay attention to this word from the French spiritual writer, Simone Weil. “Those who are happy have no...
The Purpose of Purpose
If we don’t know where we’re going, what does where we arrive matter? If we don’t have directions, our lives become a series of cul-de-sacs, blind alleys, and we constantly are beating our heads up against that proverbial brick wall. There’s a somewhat funny story...
Accepting Not Proving
It seems universally true: we constantly strive for more. Satisfaction seems beyond our grasp. Getting off the treadmill of striving for MORE is difficult; even feels dangerous. Without making a decision about it, we connect our urge for more with our resistance to...
“You Will Never Walk”…. but She Won Gold
“Thousands of people have talent. I might as well congratulate you for having eyes in your head. The one and only thing that counts is: Do you have staying power.” I thought of this word by the playwright Noel Coward when I read the story of Wilma Rudolph. As a child...
Wrinkles: What Do You Want to be When You Grow Up?
Age is an issue at all times of our life. In fact, age is an issue of life because our aging determines in large part the pattern of our lives. A friend told me this story recently. A seven-year-old girl was sitting on her grandmother's lap. As the little girl moved...
Take Who I Am As A Whole
Facebook can be a bane or a blessing. I could say that differently: Facebook can be a blessing or a curse. Without getting into details about why bane rather than blessing, I think it sounds better, and curse sounds so harsh, I received an email a few days ago that...