Embracing “Tidings of Comfort and Joy”

Merle2 CommentsLife Lessons

Some Christmas song lyrics are cycling in my head almost every day: “God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay…” and “O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy…” This December has brought into sharp focus the reality of death and the uncertainties about the plans we make for ourselves and for our families. Within a week, two elders who were dear friends of mine left their spouses, families, and communities grieving their sudden passing. It makes me wonder if my plans for Christmas and for my family will be altered just as suddenly. Would I embrace the Read More

Good Years and Solid Grace

MerleLeave a commentLife Lessons, Spiritual Growth

Yesterday I worked quite energetically at putting water on dry ground, making sure my tomato plants don’t wither. I spent long minutes at each of the flower beds for which Rita cared. I was trying to imagine how deeply the moisture was penetrating the ground as I sprayed expensive water from the garden hose. In the back of my mind, I could picture the water meter in our basement spinning furiously. Just a few hours later, we were celebrating a short downpour of rain. This rain wasn’t carefully aimed at a few tomato root systems. This rain wasn’t strategically planned Read More

The Impact of 215

Merle4 CommentsLife Lessons

Sadness, anger, horror, incredulity, shame, regret, and repentance are just a few of the emotions and responses that cycle through my soul since hearing of the discovery of 215 children’s bodies buried at an Indian Residential School in British Columbia. Read it here. These are people that died away from their homes and communities; people that disappeared without explanation and without record. It is the ultimate evidence of an arrogant, racist, and elitist system that married governments and churches into one deliberate machine intended to erase a people and to eliminate identity and to destroy any residue of ethnic sovereignty. Read More

An Emerging Moral Portrait

MerleLeave a commentSpiritual Growth

When I read the phrase “moral portrait” recently, it stirred a memory of my dad. At some period in my much-younger days, I remember my dad talking about the late-in-life actions and the last words of some of the older men in his community. As several of these men lost mental awareness and as they lost verbal filters, they did and said things that were shocking–given their legacies and reputations as moral examples in the church and community. That seemed to be a personal warning and a frightening prospect for my dad. He talked about ways of preventing such a Read More

The Ditch Is Not the Road To Anywhere

Merle2 CommentsLife Lessons, Spiritual Growth

I was four years old when I first became aware of the ditches on either side of our country road. I’ve never forgotten my childhood version of ditch trauma. I was hanging out with an older brother to whom had been given the job of herding a group of cattle in the ditch on the side of the road in front of our farmyard. The cattle were able to find edible grass there where the last bits of moisture in the arid Kansas summer provided some green feed. I was playing along the edge of the road when a county Read More

Who Wants To Be A (Meek) Millionaire?

Merle6 CommentsLife Lessons, Spiritual Growth

Why do we value shortcuts to power, to wealth, to knowledge, and to socio-political outcomes? Why do Jesus and the apostles frame the journey to both power and wisdom in terms of meekness? (Matthew 5:5; James 3:13) My dad and mom were both rather quiet when it came to expressing opinions and judgments to others. My dad liked to think about things, and take some time with a topic before delivering a rant or strong opinion. Not always, but usually. I watched the same traits in my numerous, older siblings. I learned something I didn’t realize until later: that our Read More