Tag Archives: mystery

Telling the story

April 1, 2021 · by · in Ruminations · Leave a comment

Today I’m wondering how many of us find in Maundy Thursday an experience like E.B. White described in an old issue of The New Yorker. He described a cowboy who commuted by plane between New York and Chicago. His job was to throw steers in the rodeos of both cities. The steers didn’t need to […]

Teach us to pray

July 28, 2019 · by · in Ruminations · Leave a comment

Once, after the disciples had observed Jesus praying, one of them said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1-13). So he gave them some words, though it wasn’t words they wanted, and though any words could have served as well, even words they already knew. As observant Jews, the disciples already knew the […]

This awe-full rowing toward God

July 9, 2017 · by · in Ruminations · Leave a comment

There is in my head these days a sound, almost metallic though not harsh but smooth, like the sound a singing bowl makes when caressed in the right way or like the sound yin-yang’s opposites make in their endless, whirling dance. The paradox is, I am perfect, complete in each moment of my condition and […]

Mystery

January 3, 2017 · by · in Ruminations · Leave a comment

During the days from Christmas into the new year I’ve been touching ground – caring for chores around the house; reading some favorite prose and poetry and some intriguing new things; listening to music that always stirs my soul, including Paul Winter’s Missa Gaia, especially Jeremy Geffen’s song “Mystery.” Well into my middle years I […]

Tell it slant

May 24, 2016 · by · in Ruminations · Leave a comment

“Tell all the truth but tell it slant,” Emily Dickinson advised. “Too bright for our infirm Delight / The Truth’s superb surprise / … / The Truth must dazzle gradually / Or every man be blind.” Someone, unquestionably well meaning and hungry for something more, once asked after one of my sermons (back in the […]