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Thin Places

I have been reading the Gospel of Luke in recent days, and I came across the angel Gabriel’s pronouncement to Mary: “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” I tried to imagine myself in her position, and I envisioned a big grin on my face, feeling as if Ed McMann had…

It was one of those days that I could have missed. So easily, I could have missed the first time William put something in a bucket (to this point he’s only taken things out). I could have missed Penny’s applause, “Good job, William!” I could have missed him running into the water on his short…

Wrinkles. Sun spots. White hair. A stout waist. Flabby arms, arms my sister and I took delight in jiggling. Hers was a body I loved. When I was a child, even into adolescence, even into those years of beginning to worry about my own size and shape, even then, a part of me longed for…

As the name of this blog suggests, I’m interested in “Thin Places.” I’m interested in the physical spaces that feel holy, be that a mountaintop, or a cathedral, or an ancient monument. I’m even more interested in the relationships and times in life when we find ourselves in a thin place. When my mother-in-law died,…

I have been reading through Matthew’s Gospel these past few weeks, and I came again to the Beatitudes, those puzzling and poetic words of Jesus that have been quoted through the ages. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” caught my attention. I don’t hunger and thirst for much. Certainly not for actual…

Love is difficult. Much as I long to love others and be loved in return, now that I have children, I very much understand that love is messy and challenging and there are days when I think I can’t do it anymore. I’m not talking about Hallmark card love, about hearts or kisses or sentimental…

I once heard a sermon about becoming friends with God. The point of the sermon was to encourage everyone in attendance to spend some daily time with God, be that in prayer or reading the Bible or something else. And although I was in college at the time, I distinctly remember the preacher saying, “This…

November 2008Babies Perfect and Imperfecthttp://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=6367December 31, 2008The Good Lifehttp://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/?p=1267

Although these posts are scheduled to appear while I’m away, it seems fitting that this final one in the series “God With Us” would appear on New Year’s Day. May we all know new life with God in the year ahead… Happy 2010! I’ve been a Christian for a long time now. And yet I…

I have never been much of a shopper. I don’t like trying on clothes. I don’t like waiting in line. I don’t like spending money. And I don’t like the time it takes. So I have never paid much attention to Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. I’ve usually spent that day with my family,…
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