On a morning when I awoke to find that my country was on the verge of closing its final international border to unnecessary travel, I couldn't help but find the opening words of the Psalm portion a little jarring: "He strengthens the bars of your gates." (Ps 147.13). Indeed. Never in living memory have we … Continue reading Contagion
This has been quite the year. Devastating fires, flooding, plane crashes, geopolitical sabre-rattling, socio-political deadlocks, confirmation that we're well behind where we need to be to prevent a climate disaster, and, now a truly global pandemic. And it's only mid March! It's no wonder people are feeling stressed. As I walk down the streets every day, it's … Continue reading In Times like These
Because we are meaning-making creatures, it is no surprise that many cultures across the world and throughout history have extended this to finding symbolic meaning in numbers. Even in Western North American culture that doesn't have a historical numerological system of its own, we have a strong predilection for multiples of ten, and call the … Continue reading A Time for Every Matter under Heaven
Story is everything. Everything is story. Story-telling is a fundamental part of being human. We all do it, every day, whether we are aware of it or not. We are wired to make meaning, to seek patterns and connections between people and events, causes and effects. This is a critical and wonderful part of what … Continue reading Changing the Story
The final Bible story I want to explore in depth in this series on knowing God is Job's encounter with God in the whirlwind. The story of Job is as follows: Though a holy and honorable man, Job loses his health, wealth, and family in a series of calamities. Job must deal not only with … Continue reading Facing the Whirlwind
