Almost one year ago, in the week leading up to Christmas, I met “the driftwood artist.” I wonder if he is still there peddling his art on that part of coastal highway that runs through St. Petersburg, Florida. And,  I wonder if all of life, really, is about cobbling together something beautiful out of the…

I got my very first piece of borderline hate mail recently. Since it has been said by writers far more seasoned than I that you haven’t really “arrived” in the blogging world until the hate mail starts accruing, I’m actually feeling pretty un-phased by the development.  (Just think, for example, about all the controversy that Rachel…

 

Starting tomorrow we’re in for a treat.  That’s when we’ll begin a special Advent series featuring the photography of the very talented, fellow saint and sinner Katie Archibald-Woodward.  (Just think: we’ll get to say that we knew Katie before she became famous; and I’ll be able to boast that I grew up miles from her…

We writers try to find ways to remind ourselves that what we are writing really matters.  One way I do this is to remember who I’m writing for. Some of you know by now that Grace Sticks is a book for restless souls- all of us religious misfits disillusioned by the church with one foot in…

  This Thanksgiving, I’m reminded again of Helen at the assisted living center who regularly tells me she hates her life and wants to die. From a pragmatic standpoint, it doesn’t really help that Helen doesn’t believe in a God who loves her- a God, in short, to Whom one might give thanks. Recently, though,…

First, villainy… By way of an addendum to my recent review of the new James Bond flick, fellow saint and sinner Michael Frost has shared a wonderful resource: The Ultimate James Bond Fansite.  If you’ve ever entertained the notion of being one of Bond’s arch-villains or femme fatales, you’ll find your favorites here.  (For me it’s…

It’s good to be back at this intersection between life and God- I’ve missed you all! Yesterday’s traveling companion home was the last chapter of Parker Palmer’s gem of a book, A Hidden Wholeness.  (It has convinced me that in another life I could become a Quaker.)  Palmer concludes his final chapter with a poem by…

The skeleton at the beauty parlor is retiring. I heard the news just the other day. Maybe it’s more accurate to say that the neighbors who every year at Halloween brush off that funny, old ensemble, positioning it strategically near the sidewalk for the viewing pleasure of all passersby, is retiring.  Maybe the tradition just…

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