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Thin Places

It’s easy to understand why Three Cups of Tea has been on the bestseller list for years, and even easier to understand why schools assign it as summer reading. It would be simple to start a discussion with the question: What did you learn from reading it? And I could imagine someone saying they learned…

Three years ago, I was working at a bank, but it left me unfulfilled. I longed to do something with more purpose. I discovered a YMCA-sponsored mentoring program that partnered with churches to provide literacy training for children in low-income neighborhoods. With the goal of advancing elementary-aged students several reading levels, adult volunteers were paired with the students…

A few weeks ago, a reader wrote and asked how Christians view animals. In particular, she was concerned because she felt that the Bible had been used to justify harm of animals. I’ve been thinking about her question ever since, and I was glad to have a chance to put some of my thoughts on…

The first Christmas after Penny was born, we were singing “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” It contains the lines, about the baby Jesus: “The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.” And I remember thinking about how frightening it was to have hope–to look to the future and expect God…

I have an essay about the gift of grief on Christianity Today’s website. It begins: After my mother-in-law died, I remember thinking that I finally understood the word depressed. It felt as though I had been pushed underneath a heavy boulder, one that wasn’t crushing me but instead confining me and keeping out the light.…

I enjoyed The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen’s last epic novel of American life. And after reading the TIME cover article about his upcoming novel, Freedom, I can’t wait to dive in. Here’s what gets me interested: “For Franzen’s characters, too much freedom is an empty, dangerously entropic thing. After all, energy companies are free to ravage…

Sometimes I forget about Penny’s extra chromosome. A lot of the time, actually. When we’re with my family. When she’s being William’s bossy older sister. When she and I are cuddling on the bed and she asks me to tell her stories. But then it comes up. Take yesterday, when we were at the beach…

My name is George, and I am 11 years old. I’ve always wanted a brother, and prayed a lot to God for a little brother to play with. It took awhile for that prayer to be answered. He did give me a brother, but I didn’t expect that He would give me a brother that…

Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love, is all the rage. In fact, its been all the rage for years now. Millions of copies sold. A fragrance line. A movie. All this, from a book that is spiritual journey, travelogue, and one woman’s quest to find true love. I’m not going to add my opinion to the…

It’s easy to have faith in God when everything is going well. When I walk down the dirt road near our house and see the osprey flying home to their nest with a fish in his claws, when the breeze cools my body and the marsh grass glows a yellow-green and the blue of the…
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