by David Anderson
Once a few Decembers ago we were planning a holiday party and I decided it would perfect to light the weeping cherry tree in the front yard. The week of the party I left the office at one o’clock. I needed to deck these boughs while the light held, and I figured I needed at […]
by David Anderson 10 Comments Filed Under: Awareness, Awe, Beauty, Discernment, Faith/Trust, Hope, Letting Go, LIght, Seeing
“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 […]
by David Anderson 9 Comments Filed Under: Awareness, Change, Choice, Discernment, Hope, Suffering, Transformation
“I know what my calling is,” Brenda said. She is a cancer survivor, alive today, she told me, because three women had carried her on their prayers from fear and death to healing and life. She went on . . . I’ll give you an example. I went for a scan, and I’m so […]
by David Anderson 8 Comments Filed Under: Fear, Healing, Hope, Love, Vocation/ Calling
Advent pulls in two directions. It recalls a “first coming” but only to awaken our senses so that we will not miss the “second coming.” I don’t go in much for the Second Coming. That’s almost completely because as a child I was taught to look for the Second Coming in literal form. Christ would […]
by David Anderson 6 Comments Filed Under: Daily Practice, Hope, Now/ the Present, Waiting
“If your life’s work can be accomplished in your lifetime, you’re not thinking big enough.” -Wes Jackson Those words gave me pause—a big pause. I read them in an article about sustainable agriculture (as a South Dakota native it’s sad to see the systematic poisoning of the earth as the basis for our agri-business). Wes […]
by David Anderson 6 Comments Filed Under: Community, Daily Practice, Faith in Action, Hope, Service, Uncategorized, Vocation/ Calling
Life each day presents us with the unknown. What will happen? What will not happen? Our great fear is simply not knowing what comes next—and our ultimate fear is of the end. What happens when we die? The big fear—of death—is expressed in all the little fears that roil our hearts, the hundred things each […]
by David Anderson 7 Comments Filed Under: Awareness, Death/Dying, Faith/Trust, Fear, Heaven, Hope, Letting Go, Love, Now/ the Present, Reality--trusting it
The message of Easter is very simple. When something dies, bury it. Then walk away, let it be. The Bible says three days—let it be for three days. That’s how long Jesus was in the tomb. That’s how long Jonah was buried in the belly of the sea monster. “Three days” is biblical language for […]
by David Anderson 5 Comments Filed Under: Faith/Trust, Hope, Letting Go, Now/ the Present, Reality--trusting it, Uncategorized
On Christmas Eve, as I placed a piece of bread in a man’s hands, he gripped my arm and said, “29 years of sobriety. Thank you.” Normally, the communion ritual is mute, except for the words of administration. “The body of Christ, the bread of heaven.” Sometimes the recipient says only, “Amen.” So be […]
by David Anderson 5 Comments Filed Under: Forgiveness, Grace, Healing, Hope, Uncategorized