The Tree in Winter The winter, barren branch, firmly rooted, standing stark against a scarlet-stained sky has long been one of my favorite metaphors for life. I have spent close to 50 winters contemplating its beauty and message. In every testing period of my life, its sermon of hope becomes my winter song of making…
Category: Faith
Gleam
Millions of pinholes twinkle across a midnight sky, a bubbly mountain river shimmers in sunlight as it flows to the sea, sand glistens through the water at the ocean shore, bright eyes gleam from a distant playground, and a smoldering ember glows red hot to the end. A small thing it is not…to shine, to…
Proclamation
The black earth that swallowed the acorn, and the seed that died and split open. The tender sapling that shivered to rise, and the tree that towered above the house to touch the clouds. The roots that bore deep below the sand and rock, and the verdant leaves that waved with the wind. The veins…
Life and Light
Writers, especially poets, often endeavor to incorporate the magic of falling or slanting light into their musings—the way it reflects off the water, shines through the trees, or forms shadows on the wall. They are occasionally criticized for their feeble attempts—metaphors too worn out with over-usage and too prosaic. How do you capture and bend…
Crimson Ribbon of Joy Part 1
“Joy is the serious business of heaven.” CS Lewis Part 1 Under the Yew Tree The autumn air grew chilly as the sun dipped below the horizon. It was that time of day—just past sunset— that falls heavy in the air and everything on land, sea, and sky grows distant and melds into steely gray…
Dying for Breath
My husband and I had been leading a tour of the biblical sites of Israel when we first learned that the pandemic had hopped from China to the Mid-East. A few COVID-19 cases had been reported in the ancient city of Jerusalem and surrounding villages. Even then the threat loomed distant—like it was someone else’s…
Extraordinary
Extraordinary There isn’t an eagle’s feather, pine needle, or postage stamp of sky that doesn’t silently shout extraordinary lengths— in this extravagant showcase of quaking life. It became necessary to span the distance between God and humankind. Our cosmos is a fading fragment of the unapproachable light in which He dwells. We…
Someone Flip the Turtle Over, Please!
Those red and yellow tulips looked sprightly, especially to a seven-year-old girl on a walk around the block. They looked so good, that I picked them from my neighbor’s yard and presented them to my aunt as a gift. Her response wasn’t what I expected. Aunty Florence promptly marched me up to the door of…
Five Purposes of Prophecy
In this post-modern world and sadly in the Church one of the first big hurdles to leap when speaking of the prophetic is the strong disbelief that God still uses the prophet and the prophetic message. The second hurdle is that Christians can all prophesy. Let’s take a look. The gift of prophecy is one…
Bonnie Saul Wilks 