On Monday, in my Reformed defense of mysticism, I write that to Reformed is to be mystic. That is, if we actually notice God in every “square inch” of his world. If we call God drawing us to him with his irresistible grace what it is: ecstasy itself. Today, I offer an excerpt from Broke, […]
T.U.L.I.P Fueled Ecstasies & Other Reformed Defenses of Mysticism
I had hoped by now I’d be over my annoyance toward Tim Challies’ unfortunate post in which he calls St. Teresa of Avila a “false teacher.” Certainly it helped ease my frustration when my friend Ellen Painter Dollar wrote such a stellar response. But alas, the annoyance remains. As troubled as I was over Challies’ brutal […]
“What I Learned About Being Wealthy By Going Broke”
Once upon a time I was wealthy. Not just American-style wealthy. Wealthy wealthy. Maybe not the top of the 1%, but still: the sort where a brand-new car awaits you on your 16th birthday, a gold watch congratulates your high school graduation, and a long, creamy strand of pearls commemorate your college. The sort of wealthy with weddings […]
Remember Well
“Remember well.” So reads the inscription in my copy of Everything That Makes You Mom, a lovely little book of vignettes and memory-prompts about mothers. Remember well is good instruction when it comes to our moms, of course. It’s important that we remember the acts of love, the reasons for discipline, the sounds of laughter, the endless […]
“Searching for the Sound of Silence”
This article appears in full at Her.meneutics: A recent Thought Catalog article dished out some research about writers. They’re depressed people, awful lovers, overly thinky, and largely unhappy. As a writer, I should recoil at these words. I should get nervous about statements like: Writers think a lot and people who think a lot tend to be […]
Holy Week Confessions
Saturday Today’s the day of grief, of waiting. The day of losing faith and hope in what was believed to be true. Forgive me for my rage in times of grief, for impatience in times of waiting. Forgive me for the times I lose faith–entirely–and let go of hope. Forgive me for not believing your […]