by David Anderson
Riding a hot air balloon is probably about as dangerous as riding a Ferris wheel, but it didn’t feel that way on Saturday when I climbed into a basket and the thing took off. As the massive balloon inflated, it took the pilot, Stan, and three men on the ground to keep it under control. […]
by David Anderson 5 Comments Filed Under: Faith/Trust, Fear, Freedom, Happiness, Letting Go, Surrender
Why is it so hard to trust yourself? Yesterday we heard the story of the two forlorn disciples on the Emmaus Road—who had a vivid, astonishing experience of the risen Christ, only to lose it the next moment. In Luke’s account, as soon as they recognize Christ, he “vanished from their sight.” That vanishing reminds […]
by David Anderson 3 Comments Filed Under: Adult Spirituality, Faith/Trust, Letting Go
Creativity is kin to spirituality. As a writer and a pastor, I am always intrigued by how the creative process—for any artist—tracks so closely the movement of the Spirit. The key to creativity, I find, also fits the lock and opens the door of the soul. And that key is: limits. Everything about our world […]
by David Anderson 14 Comments Filed Under: Awareness, Choice, creativity, Freedom, Happiness, Letting Go, Now/ the Present, Reality--trusting it, Surrender
(We’ll get to Gobbler’s Knob in a moment.) Today—February 2nd—is a big turning point. It’s a great cross-quarter day, midway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. In ancient, agricultural societies it was regarded as the beginning of spring—the time for first turning the soil in preparation for March planting. There were prayers and […]
by David Anderson 5 Comments Filed Under: Adult Spirituality, Awareness, Change, Letting Go, LIght, Surrender
I am sitting at a bus stop in Hellertown, Pennsylvania. I am not the one hoping to board a bus, it is my son-in-law, Andy. Andy and Maggy have come out to our home in Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving. Today, though, it is time to head back to New York. Maggy is staying the day since […]
by David Anderson 3 Comments Filed Under: Awareness, Faithfulness, Letting Go, Now/ the Present, Patience, Reality--trusting it, Waiting
(It’s All Saints Day.) The saints are always those who are able to do deeds of power—sometimes great things and sometimes very small things, but powerful works. Sometimes their mere presence creates blessing and peace. Goodness follows in their wake. They are like Jesus who “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38). This goodness, though, easily […]
by David Anderson 6 Comments Filed Under: Death/Dying, Faith/Trust, Grace, Letting Go, Repentance, Uncategorized, Vocation/ Calling
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know. -Ernest Hemingway Dear Ernest, You are quite right. Very often, intelligent people are very unhappy—especially if by intelligence you mean only that narrow band of knowing lodged in the brain. For about four hundred years now, at least in our Western culture, that kind of […]
by David Anderson 5 Comments Filed Under: Adult Spirituality, Faith/Trust, Grace, Happiness, Letting Go, Love, Reality--trusting it, Suffering, Surrender
“Every email she writes, every conversation always begins with some trouble or difficulty, some illness that’s plaguing her, some suffering in her children, some pain wracking a relative or loved one.” The woman talking to me was describing a friend. “I think if I called her attention to it—if I showed her the emails, she […]
by David Anderson 4 Comments Filed Under: Awareness, Faith/Trust, Happiness, Healing, Letting Go, Now/ the Present, Suffering, Uncategorized