I recently heard a friend say that going to an Al-Anon meeting was like going to church. This person talked about what it was like to be able sit together in such broken love. I’ve heard others talk or write about what it is like to walk into other12 Step meetings where they immediately feel […]
All over the world there are indicators of class struggle. In elections, protests, looting, crime-rates, joblessness, and unfair wages— ongoing wars of every kind and degree reflect the struggle between those who have a voice in what happens to them that those who don’t. In the middle of such tensions and conflict, one of the […]
Over the years, I’ve dreamed of being part of a “safe place” where hurting people could feel welcome and feel free to be themselves while trying to make sense out of their lives. In the process I’ve imagined finding a group of like-minded people who could hang out a shingle and an honest invitation that […]
When I began the last post saying, “Some of us have been around long enough to see that the Bible we treasure has been used to multiply the pain of racial minorities, women, the poor, the mentally ill, the divorced, abused, addicted, unemployed, and prisoners” I was writing from my heart, and from personal experience. I […]
The apostle Paul writes that God will not give us more than we can bear (1 Cor. 10:13). Many caregivers have used those words in days of overload to avoid the breaking point of their own health, sanity, and spiritual despair. But why then did the same author admit in another letter that, while caring […]
Yesterday, I was staring out the 7th floor window of our Singapore office, watching a tropical rainstorm move in, and thinking about the snow that is beginning to fall back home. At some point I noticed the garden or plant nursery on the roof of a building below and wondered whether it was someone’s hobby […]
Today is a national American holiday that reminds us to give thanks to the God of the harvest. Yet the season of Thanksgiving often turns into an occasion to express personal gratefulness at the expense of someone else. What I’m wondering is whether it is possible to publicly give thanks to God in a way […]
What can we do when we’re out of sorts, not ourselves, and lost in emotions of inexpressible heaviness? What if, on top of it all, we’re feeling guilty for not being able to think or pray ourselves out of whatever is consuming our focus and energy? Spiritual talk that is supposed to help leaves us cold. Imagine meeting […]
Marital abuse comes home when it happens to someone we care about. Imagine if the following were your daughter: A Woman In Pain: She doesn’t know where to turn and blames herself for ending up in an abusive marriage. You know your daughter isn’t perfect. But what you haven’t seen is how often she’s cried, […]
