My beloved is to me a pouch of myrrh which lies all night between my breasts. –Song of Songs 1:13 A few years ago, I wept through a message, delivered at my home church, by Gary Wiens on the above Scripture. I am still moved to tears when I remember his beautiful, life-giving words about the love between the…
Category: Culture
Over the Cattle Guard…
Recently, I spent a few days on a working horse ranch in the roughed hill country of Texas. As my husband and I begin a three-month sabbatical — our first in 15 years — we decided to begin by each taking a week to separate and draw near to God. Just six days. And I…
The Opportunity to Give a Reason…
Widely acclaimed by Church leaders and theologians, Pope Benedict the 16th has written a new book, published in seven languages and released on March 10th. The title, “Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week—From the Entrance Into Jerusalem to the Resurrection” speaks for itself—a scholarly analysis of the last days of Jesus. In writing the book, the…
Jerusalem Jaunt
I love a trip to the Arab market and the Jewish Quarter in the Old City. We hopped on a bus and took it to the Zion Gate and then walked around and finished with a great lunch in an outdoor cafe and a coffee and big cookie in a great coffee shop overlooking the…
Still on Trial
Although thousands of years have passed, Jesus of Nazareth is still on trial today. Like relentless winds pummeling a tiny ship in mid-ocean, strong and hard questions from the world assail the church. They still want to know who Jesus is exactly. Why He is still around, and why His disciples keep falling from grace….
SearchLight
This is not the exact quote, but I remember hearing something like this once, “Don’t seek the limelight until you have been under the searchlight.” You get the drift, especially if you are a believer and giving God free reign in your life to highlight things that need to change. The searchlight is in order!…
Cream of Fava Bean Soup
Fava beans — larger than lima or butter beans — are packed with flavor and nutrition. Remember Jack who sold the family cow for a few beans — and they turned out to be a magical variety? When you think of fava beans, think of the old English children’s classic, “Jack and the Beanstalk” kind…
Sunset on Planet Earth
This is sunset on planet earth from Limassol, Cyprus…
I Stopped the Movie and Wept
We have had a couple of gray and bone-chilly days here by the sea. I don’t mind. The ocean is a different place when the weather is foul. It is still awesome and captivating, but somehow a rolling amount of immeasurable water with fathomless power is scarier and more on-the-edge of civilized life when the…
‘In God We Trust’
America: “In God We Trust”
Bonnie Saul Wilks 