by David Anderson
Exodus 3: 1-12 “And Moses said, ‘I will turn aside and seethis great sight, why the bush is not burnt.” The story of the Burning Bush begins with a murder. The only reason Moses is out here in the wilderness is because, in his zeal and anger, he killed an Egyptian slave master who was […]
by David Anderson 3 Comments Filed Under: Advent, Awareness, Awe, Death/Dying, Discernment, Faith/Trust, Mystery, Now/ the Present, Salvation, Silence, Surrender, Transformation
Isaiah 7:10-14 “A woman is with child, and will bear a son,and will call him Emmanuel.” This is where we begin our Advent pilgrimage. A crib. The nativity scene is all there, Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and their sheep—except for the Child. The manger is empty. Let it stay that way, unfilled, for now. […]
by David Anderson 9 Comments Filed Under: Advent, Awareness, Happiness, Healing, Hope, Prayer/Meditation, Transformation
My father, as drawn by my nephew, Kasper Kavalaris I grew up in a Swedish Baptist Church in Yankton, South Dakota. My family sat in the second pew, one long enough to hold my two brothers, my four sisters, my parents, and me. We sang all the American gospel hymns—by Fannie Crosby, Charles Wesley, Ira […]
by David Anderson 7 Comments Filed Under: Abundance, Awareness, Family, Grace, Gratitude, grief, Happiness, Healing, Mercy, Surrender, Transformation
Grace and gratitude belong together like heaven and earth. Grace evokes gratitude like the voice of an echo. Gratitude follows grace like thunder lightning. —Karl Barth The gratitude Barth speaks of is not happiness, certainly not elation. Maybe we feel grateful when something turns out perfectly, or our hard work is rewarded with some kind […]
by David Anderson 5 Comments Filed Under: Awe, Blessing, Daily Practice, Forgiveness, Grace, Gratitude, Happiness, Healing, Mercy, Salvation, Surrender, Transformation
One day, not long after we moved into the Rectory at Saint Luke’s Parish, one of my daughter’s friends—a young driver—was backing out of the driveway late at night and hit the column on the end of the old stone wall that ran along the road. The end-column, about a foot higher than the […]
by David Anderson 12 Comments Filed Under: Beauty, creativity, Grace, Healing, Transformation
“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
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 […]
by David Anderson 15 Comments Filed Under: Awareness, Awe, Blessing, Community, Death/Dying, Faith/Trust, Grace, Letting Go, Surrender, Transformation
Our grandchildren, ages eight and four, are with us for a week. All day every day. By about day four an adult reaches a saturation point and becomes, in some sense, a child too. After days and nights participating in play, story, physical and imaginative games, make-believe, general silliness, and the deep need for security […]
by David Anderson 4 Comments Filed Under: Adult Spirituality, Awareness, Awe, Change, Faith/Trust, Family, Grace, Happiness, Healing, Love, Now/ the Present, Reality--trusting it, Surrender, Transformation