On this Ash Wednesday, this first day of Lent, I offer this aphorism… Desire without meaning nor the hope of fulfillment is the substance of Hell. It is my hope this Lenten season to know hunger, to experience the hunger of Jesus in the hunger of the poor. It is my hope to cast off […]

I am a legalist of sorts. In making this confession I am not saying that I can point to a specific set of laws or moral standards I ascribe to, and live by, and believe that upon this basis I have a good standing with God. I know what the Scriptures say about the false […]

I have developed a sick religious consciousness. This is not to say that this consciousness is the sum of who I am, or that it is dominant in my personality, but it certainly is prevalent. It occurred to me moments ago (and so, I of course have to blog about it) that this consciousness is […]

The sage of Proverbs states, “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” On the other hand it’s also true that there is a way that appears to be death, but its end is life. This is the testimony of the Cross. The hitch in both […]

Drown that sad little bastard; drown him in a sea of grace.

I see my heart full of daggers directed outward and ready to cut and pierce any who would dare draw near to hold it. And then I see Jesus drawing near, allowing himself to be cut and pierced as he embraces me. This is exactly what God did on the cross. As Isaiah says, “he […]

Of all the idols in the world perhaps that most insidious and subtle is the idol of good character. In making this assertion I don’t mean to deny the importance of being genuinely good, neither do I want to undermine focused efforts to grow and develop as a person. I do, however, want to draw […]

Sometimes I think our own souls are an abyss of eternal longing that will swallow and crush us like a black hole if we do not learn by faith to set our longing upon God.

The thematic thread running through today’s lectionary was forgiveness, which struck me as both apropos and challenging on this day, the day of the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America that fell the Twin Towers, that took down a plane in Pennsylvania, and that took out a wing of the Pentagon. It is […]

It’s 5:30 in the morning, but on other nights it’s been three, or four in the morning and I wake up reviewing my life, not as a matter of conscious choice, but as if my soul was already in the act and at the time of waking I am merely becoming aware of what was […]