“He’s only a kid, Harry. We can take him.” -Marv, Home Alone Bad wedding presents. Friends of mine got married about ten years ago. Amidst the many gifts they received were a couple of less desirable acquisitions. Not everyone uses the registry. If you’ve ever gotten married you can probably relate. My favourite present wasRead more
“Buddy the Elf! What’s your favourite colour?!” – Buddy, Elf Nice to meet you. I remember meeting one of my best friends for the first time in a dormitory hallway. Our rooms were adjacent, and one day we emerged from them simultaneously. We each said hi and asked where the other was from. Because weRead more
“Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” -Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas Jesus blinked. In the film Talladega Nights, Will Ferrell plays a racing driver named Ricky Bobby. Multiple times in the movie he prays to “baby Jesus”: Dear 8-pound, 6-ounce newborn infantRead more
Who are you? Who, who, who, who? -The Who, “Who Are You?” Who was Jesus, really? One of my favourite Christmas carols is by an English writer named William Chatterton Dix. The story goes that at age twenty-nine he wrote “What Child is This?” after suffering through serious illness and wrestling with deep depression. TheRead more
Last winter I walked down a street in my town and spotted something in a storefront window that gave me pause. I peered inside to take a closer look. There before me was a delightful, ten-inch figurine of Santa Claus. In his arms he cradled a soundly sleeping baby Jesus. I would have snatched it up, hadRead more
Hey friends! We’re re-releasing When God Was Little chapter by chapter over 12 days via my blog as a lead up to Christmas. Would you consider sharing the posts when they pop up? It might be nice for more people to read about how Christmas shapes our understanding of God in a more accessible formatRead more
That beginners mind is what we must come back to every time we sit down and write. There is no security, no assurance that because we wrote something good two months ago, we will do it again. Actually, every time we begin, we wonder how we ever did it before. Each time is a newRead more
September Taut, I long to loose the past along with future tense. To gift myself the present and be glad. October O autumn heart Though brittle now, by touch unmade Be resolved to age and alter To beat and bleed in red and shed the rust. Be resolved to be remade.
St. John has rather affectionate and accurate titles for his listeners in the letter we first credit him. “Little children” is found amongst John’s addresses along with “brothers and sisters” and “beloved”. These terms convey a certain fond and compassionate sentiment, even in the midst of John’s stout teaching. The letter is full of robustRead more
This project began as personal reflection during Advent and evolved into something I shared throughout the season. Each day in December I read the scripture passages allotted by the lectionary. Flipping back and forth between pages, my meditation on the words led to penning brief amalgamations of language and imagery – short verses birthed byRead more