A Kitchen Table Advent
Short Reflections to Share with Family & Friends.
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The Spiral Staircase
“We’re going in circles! We’re going in circles!” That was the sing-song cry from the backseat when our kids were young and we were lost, trying to follow directions, turning, turning and ending up back where we started. Not long ago I was suffering through a difficult passage. Fears I thought I’d dealt with were…
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Tell The Truth–Before Your DNA Does
What if a total stranger tells you he thinks you’re his second cousin? When my daughter Maggy decided to do genetic testing with 23andMe, she was hoping to learn more about her ancestry. What she didn’t expect was that submitting her saliva for testing would provide the missing link in another man’s search for his…
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Unlearning the Lessons of Happiness
“How happy are you?” Happiness studies are all the rage these days, and happiness books abound. The most popular courses at Ivy league colleges are devoted to happiness and what it takes to get it. The tricky thing is, happiness surveys are self-reporting. People respond to questions like: I am pleased with the way I…
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My Spiritual Hot Spot
My definition of a saint, a spiritual giant, is someone who makes other people holy, just by their presence. Someone who engenders peace in other people’s hearts, who calls forth beauty and goodness and faithfulness in other people’s lives. Nurturing your own holiness, your own peace, calling forth your own beauty and goodness and faithfulness…
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“Succession”: The Incredibly Shrinking Children
Everyone loves a deeply flawed hero or heroine. Hamlet, King David, Emma, Gatsby, Scarlett O’Hara. Despite their dark sides, we are attracted to these people because there is something good and beautiful in each of them. The tragedy is always that their goodness just isn’t strong enough to prevail. The popular TV series “Succession” appears…
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The Agony That Sparks Ecstasy
in every breathif you’re the centerof your own desiresyou’ll lose the graceof your beloved but if in every breathyou blow awayyour self claimthe ecstasy of lovewill soon arrive in every breathif you’re the centerof your own thoughtsthe sadness of autumnwill fall on you but if in every breathyou strip nakedjust like a winterthe joy of…
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The Soundtrack of Life
In the last year or so I’ve been listening to scores of podcasts and as many books on Audible. Any time in the car, even twenty minutes to the grocery, I’m listening to Tolkien or Wendell Berry or a history of Mexico, ahead of our fall trip there. Washing dishes and cleaning up the house…
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Labyrinth Lessons
No, no—that’s not how you do it. That’s what I was thinking as the group began to walk the labyrinth. They were here for one of the retreats that Pam and I host here at Copper House. The leader asked if the small group of six could use the labyrinth for one of their sessions,…
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The Musical Path To God
It was a warm August night under the stars. The lead guitar sent a piercing, melodic riff skittering out across the crowd. We leapt to our feet, whooping, shouting. We knew this song. Ready to sing! Suddenly thousands of people were belting out a song that overwhelmed the sound of the band. Everyone was swaying,…