by David Anderson
is the wild card in God’s plan of universal salvation. When her mistress Sarah cannot conceive, Sarah gives her slave to have sex with Abraham (Gen. 16). Like a lot of poor women, Hagar is just given like a piece of property; her body is not her own. She gets pregnant, bears Ishmael, and Sarah […]
by David Anderson 3 Comments Filed Under: Blessing, Grace, Lent, Mercy, Vocation/ Calling
begins the Lenten journey—every year—by heading out to the wilderness and taking us along (Mark 1:9-15). The wilderness is often portrayed as an ominous and threatening place—avoid it at all costs. But what if it has a word for us, a message from God? Because the Exodus sojourn in the wilderness became the single most […]
by David Anderson 10 Comments Filed Under: Awareness, creation, Discernment, Lent, Listening, Nature/Creation, Now/ the Present, Prayer/Meditation, Surrender, Transformation
On Saturdays our companions are musicians. Every Saturday is Music day in the series, and for these “Stories of Turning,” there seemed no better song than the classic, “Turn, Turn, Turn” by the Byrds. Watch and listen below. Then check out the brief notes and commentary just below the YouTube recording. I always thought “Turn, […]
by David Anderson 1 Comment Filed Under: Lent, Uncategorized
in a parable of Jesus became my brother and me. There once was a father, Jesus said, with two sons. He says to the first, “Go and work in the vineyard today.” The first boy says, “I will not.” But later, he changes his mind. He grabs his pruning hook. To the same question, the […]
by David Anderson 6 Comments Filed Under: Adult Spirituality, authority, Freedom, Lent
knew how to turn. That’s why he is a model for us on Ash Wednesday, a day that calls us to turn in a new direction. I mean Peter’s famous vision of a sheet descending from heaven filled with all the animals he was—by law—forbidden to eat (Acts 10: 1-48). A voice from heaven says, […]
by David Anderson 14 Comments Filed Under: Awareness, Belief, Bible, Change, Discernment, Forgiveness, Grace, Lent, Repentance, Surrender, Transformation
Here’s Easter in two contrasting images. The first is the kind of Easter picture most of us are familiar with. It’s the lone Jesus whooshing up out of the tomb. There’s nothing wrong about the image. Jesus certainly defeated death. But, in their new book, “Resurrecting Easter,” John Dominic Crossan and Sarah Crossan identify this […]
by David Anderson 10 Comments Filed Under: Community, Grace, Heaven, Lent, Mercy
A Prayer to the God Who Fell From Heaven If you had stayedtightfisted in the skyand watched us thrashwith all the patience of a pipe smoker,I would pray like a golden bulletaimed at your heart.But the story saysyou criedand so heavy was the tearyou fell with it to earthhere like a baritone in a barit […]
by David Anderson 11 Comments Filed Under: Belief, Grace, Lent, Love, Mercy
“We love because God loved us first” (1 John 4:19). That truth is especially sublime when we hear it in Holy Week, when we watch with awe as someone embraces the whole world in love—and chooses to die rather than limiting or qualifying that love. If Jesus had recanted, if he had just admitted that, […]
by David Anderson 3 Comments Filed Under: Awareness, Change, Choice, Daily Practice, Family, Grace, Healing, Lent, Love, Surrender, Transformation