As we journey with individuals and groups over the course of a year, there are a few themes that seem to come up again and again.These are two of them: Weariness and division. These experiences have deep roots. They take us into the reality of our hearts and into our experience of God.And can help us to glimpse a facet of God’s character and power that we wouldn’t otherwise see. They also help us to see ourselves, our habits, our needs, our natural responses to limitation and brokenness. And these are powerful areas to cultivate honesty in a prayer life. What would it be like to talk with God about your weariness What would it be like to share space with God and consider areas of division?

The time between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day has always been somewhat sacred to me. In a sense we’re between celebrating the birth of baby Jesus and also the birth of a New Year. All of the momentum of December, all of the meaning of Advent, suddenly has some space to breathe after the festivities. And, naturally, I begin to reflect. For some, this may bring natural gratitude and worship for all that God has done. For others, the past year carries loss, questions, or even regret. What stands out to you about last year? One of my favorite poets, George Herbert, an…

What if in trying to be thankful, it feels like we’re only contrasting what isn’t working? Sometimes our focus on the good-things can seem to only shed light on how much darkness there is. Well, later in the New Testament, Jesus calls us to remembrance too. It’s on that last night with His disciples, during the last supper, He instituted an act of remembrance called Communion…For those who are really in it, walking through dark seasons, it is this remembrance of the Cross, that can be so healing. Jesus didn’t just stand at a distance…

What is thanksgiving? I don’t just mean the holiday—but the actual word. That verb. The action of giving thanks. During the holiday of Thanksgiving, we commemorate that idea of giving thanks but can lose the vitality of what it is we’re actually doing. What’s going on here? Thanks + Giving = What?

The significance of the imagination is deepened when we consider how our imagination is formed. I watch Hope, our 1-year-old daughter, toddling through her days, touching, seeing, reacting—learning everything for the first time. Her experience is constantly intaking the new. She touches the order God created—and the image in her eyes reoccurs as a first form in her mind. Over her first year, she is watching and hearing interpretations of those forms from…

Today, one might hear it said in Church that “The heart is deceitful…and desperately sick,” but not always rounded out with, “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.”[v]  Of course, the former scripture validates the fact/value division, while the latter begins integration into a whole-hearted person.[vi] We separate imagination from the intellect and reason from faith, when these ought to work in tandem, serving each other underneath the love of God.

Place of Repair, O blessed place of refuge!

How gladly will I come to meet Him there,

to cease awhile from all the joy of service,

to find a deeper joy with Him to share!

Place of Repair, for tired brain and body!

How much I need that place…

Sixty years ago, J.R.R. Tolkien argued against critics who said his fantasy works led people into escapism. Critics remarked that, at their best, his books were an excursion from reality, and at its worst a lie that created self-deception.Tolkien said in response, “Why should a man be scorned if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go…

Sixty years ago, J.R.R. Tolkien argued against critics who said his fantasy works led people into escapism. Critics remarked that, at their best, his books were an excursion from reality, and at its worst a lie that created self-deception.Tolkien said in response, “Why should a man be scorned if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go…

Open your hand. Imagine I rest an old key in your palm. “Try this,” I say. You nod and look up—I am gone—and before you is the wall of a room inset with the frame of a door. Light emanates from its edges. The whole length of the door is inscribed with thousands of languages. Some which you recognize, others look only like symbols and signs. As you approach the door, you notice there’s a nob but no keyhole. Your fingers trace the frame, but it’s no good. The door is locked….