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….
Tag: blogging
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…
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,…
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,…
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…
Soar
Ponder living in the world of a bald eagle, king of the skies, plummeting from the mountain top to the glassy clear blue lake and rising again. Oh the invigorating rush of life, exhilaration, boundless freedom, and ineffable joy! Have you been born without wings? Think again. Bend life’s harsh limitations into a dream beyond…
A Second Book
This morning while picking up the house and getting ready for the day, it occurred to me with stunning, non-negotiable truth that this November I am turning 75! I did not wince at this serendipitous reminder. Pastor Olen Griffing, a very wise man, mentor, and friend told me once that it is only in your…
The Bars of Winter
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” Jeremiah 29:11 NAS. Whatever delays, disappointments, setbacks, or heartaches from your past that are chaffing your soul raw will not hold back the overwhelming blessings, prosperity, favor, and…
Firsts
My grandson, Emmett, wiggled and wiggled as I tried to put on his pajamas. His silly mood made us both giggle and fall on the bed with laughter. Then suddenly, Emmett grew quiet and still for a moment, and his eyes gleamed and grew as big as planets. “Marmee, we saw Christmas lights tonight!” “Yes, we…
Bonnie Saul Wilks 