I pause with reverence on the balcony of my hotel room in the Holy City. Across from me stands the New Gate, and my eyes follow Jerusalem’s ancient walls as far as I can see. The golden Dome of the Rock faintly gleams as dawn peaks its way up and over the horizon and walls….
Trailing Star Circles
{Star trails are visible due to Earth’s rotation, which causes stars to appear to move across the sky. As Earth spins on its axis, long exposure photographs can capture this motion, showing stars as streaks or arcs in circled image. Wikipedia} Trailing Star Circles Only 4 or 5 times have I felt the earth spin…
Day of Atonement: The Promise of Provision
On Yom Kippur, heartsbecome as white as apriest’s prepared andpure white linengarments created forthe holiest sanctuaryon the holiest day ofthe year. The priestenters this placewith sobriety andthe fear of the Lord.He represents thepeople to Godand God to the people.Hearts ascend in quietsurrender as sweetincense arises. This is the day tocleanse, repair, repent—to seek forgivenessto make…
“A Roadmap to Joy: Find Your Way in a World of Discontent.”
I didn’t set out to write a book about joy! When I gathered my journals and blog entries of our lives, blessed opportunities of service, and extensive travel through the nations, a roadmap to joy became the surprising end result. Yes, setbacks loomed as did disappointments, mistakes, even betrayal. I learned over and over that…
Elk Crossing the Lake
Sunrise broke a couple of large marble pots leaning against the walls of heaven and sky. Did you know that the colors of dawn and dusk are stored in these magnificent stone jars? They stand waiting in the wings of aurora and twilight, ready to be broken open and slathered across the horizon. Freshly released,…
Connection
Sheltered between two Rocky Mountain canyon walls, my husband and I ascend the steep hair-pinned road. A deep sense of belonging settles as we view the beauty in silence. We have left the city behind in hopes of the serenity of clear blue mountain lakes, pristine heights and slopes of evergreens and aspen, and most…
This Will Break Charlie’s Heart
I recently read of Charlie Kirk that, while the nation mourns his death, we must never forget his rhetoric–which did not exemplify the gospel of Jesus or the way of the cross. That Kirk was ultimately a brilliant MAGA apologist and right wing conservative provocateur. A myriad of analysts, opposed to his views, have accused…
Betrayal
Don’t think of betrayal, rejection, disappointment, or failure as deprivation, rather a nutrient-rich, bitter bite. Trees are pruned in slices, without ruth, to the life-giving quick of a bearing branch. The inward, blue stripes of brokenness–that rite of passage called surrender–produces the most impassioned, sweetest, and lasting fruit. You will rise again to re-plow, re-seed,…
August’s End
Bathed in sunlight and surrounded with a thickly woven emerald carpet and a singing chorus of flowers in rioting colors, summer’s glorious days draw down to a few. It’s beauty though forever remains ephemeral and perpetual at once. Here I find strength in the hope of You, Creator. Father. Friend. Confidant. Savior. Here I am …
Golden Harvest
I will plant seeds in the barren soil of your heartache and loneliness. I will water the hard ground with your tears, shed in the secret disappointments of your heart. My smile will burn through the your weary darkness and scatter the storm clouds. I will grow a harvest from what you rejected, wasted, and…
Bonnie Saul Wilks 