The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is a short novel about a boy who follows his dream to find hidden treasure across the seas—only to discover that the treasure he sought was actually right under his nose where his dream first originated. It’s a strange and magical story for restless souls looking for “where their heart is.”…

The other day as I sent my hubby and kids off to an escape at the beach far away from my manic dash to the finish line on the manuscript for Grace Sticks, I was struck once again by the power of the human imagination. During that ungodly, 6 a.m. drive to the airport, we…

This week Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run” has been my accompaniment in long car rides to visit clients. I saw Springsteen in concert for the first time here in Atlanta several years back, and have since become a big fan. “Born to Run” is for all of us “tramps” (religious misfits) who tire of standing…

The soundtrack to the movie, “The Mission”- about a group of Jesuit missionaries in eighteenth century South America who live and die alongside the indigenous Guarani people, when they are slaughtered and their land forcibly taken by Portuguese colonialists- almost always makes me cry. Its refrains seem to embody a life lived passionately for God,…

Every Friday morning I lead a little support group/Bible study/worship service/open confessional/gripe session/gossip fest at a local assisted living center. When the friendly neighborhood “workplace chaplain” shows up, she is greeted usually by the same women. There are the atheist depressive and the New York Jew, both of whom hate each other. (Last time one…

Fellow saint and sinner Paul sent along this heartwarming video about a boy whose wish came true. Eight-year-old Atticus in Portland, Oregon, loves soccer. He also happens to have cancer. One day he got his wish: to play the Portland Timbers; Atticus’ team, The Green Machine, took on the Timbers before a stadium of 3,000-plus…

  As you now know, I love reading the obituaries in The Economist. The latest issue features the life of another restless soul: she was the very last “Beguine,” Marcella Pattyn, whose passing wistfully marks the end of a whole way of life. The Beguines were itinerant communities of women devoted to prayer, work and…

Are you doing a program for the Lord or welcoming the presence of the Lord? That was the question put before an audience by a guest speaker at World Vision years ago, at a time when our family was living in Southern California and Dad was by then in charge of at least a couple such “programs”…

It’s official: I’m pregnant, with a book that is. This morning I signed a contract with CASCADE Books, a division of Wipf and Stock Publishers, for the publication of Grace Sticks: The Bumper Sticker Gospel for Restless Souls. Grace Sticks is both light-hearted spiritual memoir and unsystematic theological travel guide for other restless souls seeking…

It’s because I’m black, isn’t it? I had just refused his request for money outside Barnes & Noble, my daughter in one arm, my son at my side, our arms laden with their new gift card purchases in the form of a zoo Playmobil and a Lord of the Rings lego set, compliments of their…

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