The Mystery of Hesed
The mysterious 3 letter Hebrew word shown above is pronounced as hesed (or khesed) and is found about 250 times in the Old Testament. It expresses an exceedingly wonderful aspect of God’s character. In his book, The Mystery of Hesed, Michael Card writes, “A good case can be made for the claim that this word, hesed, has the largest range of meaning of any word in the Hebrew language, and perhaps in any language.” . . .
The Porcupine Whose Name Didn’t Matter
This post includes another story titled “The Porcupine Whose Name Didn’t Matter” from the book, "The Way of the Wolf: The Gospel in New Images" by Martin Bell, first published in 1970. The book contains a collection of stories and poems that touch the heart and reveal how God appears to us in subtle and often mysterious ways.
Find Your Oasis
This beautifully written essay by Jeffrey Tucker titled "Find Your Oasis" recalls a transcendent moment he experienced in Grand Central Station surrounded by a multitude of people all rushing off to somewhere. In the midst of the chaos he was captivated by a distinctly different sound; that of a cello playing what he thought sounded like one of the suites by J.S. Bach, written some 300 years ago.
The Anchoviad
“What do we really know well about any creature, including most of all ourselves, and how is it that even though we know painfully little about anything, we often manage world-wrenching hubris about our wisdom?”, asks Brian Doyle in this short essay.
Joyas Voladoras
Over the last three years I’ve taken thousands of pictures of hummingbirds in my backyard. These incredible creatures are a wonder to observe, but difficult to capture in photos. In fact, just a handful of the images I’ve taken are good enough to keep. In this post I’ve included a few of these photos, and a moving essay by Brian Doyle, titled Joyas Voladoras.
Mystical Murmuration
I remember a few years ago when I saw a video of a murmuration of starlings I was amazed. The beauty, harmony, and grace of tens of thousands of these birds gathering in flight in perfect synchronization left me in absolute awe of the God of creation . . .
Brand New Day
Do you ever wonder why God in His wisdom divided up time into blocks of days, weeks, months, seasons, and years? Does the repetitive cadence of these divisions give you comfort? Does it ever make you feel like you have been given a fresh start? Do the daily sunrise and sunset, or the seasonal seedtime and harvest, lead you to give thanks to the Creator for His faithfulness? . . .
Resolving to Love Calvin and Hobbes
Three years ago I came across an essay on Calvin and Hobbes that speaks profoundly to both the Law and the Gospel. For those not familiar with Bill Watterson’s comic strip, which ran for only ten years from 1985-1995, it magically explores the life between a young boy and his imaginary tiger . . .
Is Your God Too Small?
In the introduction of J.B. Phillips book, Your God Is Too Small, Phillips writes: “If it is true that there is Someone in charge of the whole mystery of life and death, we can hardly expect to escape a sense of futility and frustration until we begin to see what He is like and what His purposes are.” . . .
Jesus and Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
It is easy for us to fall victim to illusions. Part of the reason is that we live in two worlds: the material-social world around us, and the invisible, spiritual world operating within and through the visible . . .
The Mystery of Children
A few years ago Mike Mason wrote a book titled The Mystery of Children. In one excerpt Mike writes “For me the beginning of childlike faith was when God became so big that I could no longer think complex theological thoughts about Him . . .