“It’s hard to resist, isn’t it?” “Yeah, I always walk by the plant section when I’m in here. I’m tempted to buy plants, even in the dead of winter when I know they’ll freeze.” We both laugh at ourselves and then push our buggies our separate ways along the grocery aisle. I wasn’t kidding, though. …
Books and blogs abound with tree metaphors for the Christian life. Yet, both old and new ground needs regular tilling, so whether these six ideas are novel or not, I hope they prove useful. 1. Roots bear fruit. Being rooted in the Gospel leads to the fruit of the Gospel. That’s why Christians need to …
“The more a subject matters to you, the harder it is to find a story you want to tell about it. The bar is higher,” Malcolm Gladwell observes at the beginning of his book The Bomber Mafia.* For Gladwell, the high bar story he had in mind centered around bombing campaigns during WWII, a subject …
Here are seven everyday things I’m thinking about this Thanksgiving. Color—Reading The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St. Clair this year made me appreciate color. Until recently, the colors I take for granted in clothes and printed materials were not easy or cheap—sometimes even impossible—to manufacture. The discovery of new materials and manufacturing methods …
Why am I sentimental about this threadbare sheet? Because it’s been with me for twenty years, almost my entire life, through thick and thin (now quite thin). I know it’s on the verge of tearing, and it’s transparent in the middle swath. No holes yet, but I know it’s coming, and in the threadbare spots …
Not that long ago, this time of year would have meant research papers, recitals, and final exams. In that context during college, I penned the following poem, which I'm sharing now as a brief poetic tribute to the season and to those who are currently finishing it out. "Finals" Death by a thousand paper cuts,Hands …
Was this supposed to be longer than four lessons? Most likely so, but when I stumbled on it in a submerged folder on my computer, it gave me a laugh, and I hope it gives you one too. While I am no longer in college and have not been for a little while now, I …
Worthwhile Words 