by David Anderson
Are you afraid to die? I have sat by the bed of many a dying man and woman. Those who are afraid of dying are—at bottom—afraid that perhaps they have not actually lived. It doesn’t matter if they are great church-goers. It doesn’t matter if, by all appearances, they’ve been a good person. It doesn’t […]
by David Anderson 2 Comments Filed Under: Faith/Trust, Fear, Grace, Now/ the Present, Reality--trusting it, Seeing
Why is it so hard to trust your own gift? God gives each of us one unique gift. It’s your treasure. The one thing you have to offer the world. But most of us can remember, early on, looking at our gift and feeling like it was nothing compared to what other people had. It […]
by David Anderson 6 Comments Filed Under: Faith/Trust, Faithfulness, Now/ the Present, Reality--trusting it, Seeing, Vocation/ Calling
“Flight attendants, prepare for landing.” The captain’s voice is always calm, a studied calm, a Houston-we-have-a-problem calm. Landing means we must leave this glassy smooth cruising altitude of 30,000 feet and bump our way through the lumpy atmosphere below the clouds. I heard the captain’s words Saturday on final approach to JFK, returning home from […]
by David Anderson 12 Comments Filed Under: Change, Faith/Trust, Fear
This is the weekend to remember our fathers. Fathers struggle. We know this. Mothers hold onto their children, sometimes too closely, sometimes for too long, but once that wet, naked child is placed in their arms they know instinctively what to do. Fathers don’t. We have to learn this stuff. We’re not so comfortable holding […]
by David Anderson 3 Comments Filed Under: Faith/Trust, Faithfulness, Family, Letting Go
Life can seem awfully complicated. Ron Padgett, a wonderful writer, offers some simple, take-’em-to-the-bank insights. Get some sleep. Eat an orange every morning. Be friendly. It will help make you happy. Hope for everything. Expect nothing. Take care of things close to home first. Straighten up your room before you save the world. Then save the world. Be nice […]
by David Anderson 5 Comments Filed Under: Faith/Trust, Grace, Happiness, Now/ the Present
I spoke with three people on Sunday whose life-as-usual had dead-ended. For two it was a life-altering illness. For the other it was a lost job. It was a typical Sunday, really—I suppose I stopped and talked to twenty people between three services, a parish picnic and a hospital call. These days, world unsettled as […]
by David Anderson 2 Comments Filed Under: Change, Faith/Trust, Fear, Letting Go, Now/ the Present, Reality--trusting it, Vocation/ Calling
The single challenge of life is change. We don’t like it, yet we know it is the only constant. Every day we get up and . . . things have changed. Nothing is where we left it last night. Not the kids, not the dog, not the roses in the garden. Everything we had just […]
by David Anderson 4 Comments Filed Under: Change, Faith/Trust, Grace, Happiness, Letting Go, Now/ the Present, Reality--trusting it, Surrender
Unbelieving types often wonder how in the world we can believe in “miracles” that seem so impossible. What’s “impossible” anyway? I was just reading some galactic facts that blew a brain circuit. Get a load of this. “Fourteen billion years ago the entire universe we observe today—containing upwards of 100 billion galaxies—was contained in […]
by David Anderson 3 Comments Filed Under: Faith/Trust, Nature/Creation, Science