I woke up at 4:15 this morning, and I am not a morning person. But, as I desperately tried to fall back asleep, my mind wouldn’t cooperate. Unusually for me, I left some Christmas errands until the last minute, and I spent too many hours yesterday trying to deep-breathe my way out of parking lot…
Tag: christianity
The Grace of a Humble Birth
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. -Philippians 2:8 Have you ever held a newborn during its first seconds of life? The most terrifying rotation I did in medical school was Obstetrics. Each of my classmates delivered probably three to…
An Inheritance of Gold and Glass
The Revelation of John. How many Christians are frightened of studying it? Controversial interpretations and the manipulation of numbers and symbols have discouraged too many from studying, or even reading, this book. Gruesome beasts and a lake of fire, a slain lamb with seven eyes – who wouldn’t be intimidated? Like any other book of…
Perfect
For a long time, my family and friends agreed that the only life I could be entrusted with was that of my cactus, Jed. Then Jed, unlike all my previous plants, didn’t die. He grew. In fact, he tripled in size and is still going strong. So, having proven myself worthy of parenthood, I adopted…
Mercy
Yesterday, an 18-year-old man, barely out of childhood, walked into an elementary school and murdered 19 children and two teachers. Children. I don’t know why he did it and I’m not going to wade into the gun rights debate. As an American, I’m past the point of asking why and wailing, How could this happen?…
Weep With Me
Sometimes it’s easy to see why the “health and wealth” perversion of Christianity is so popular. Just be a good person, just check off these boxes, and life in this world will go well. I’m a box-checker by nature. I have five whiteboards in my house devoted to various lists of activities. But I also…
This Is the Day
The sun shone yesterday, but inside of me confusion, anxiety, and desperation roiled. Sunday. Church. Mother’s Day. And all I can think of is me. I try not to. I beg God to stop my mind from obsessing over every piece of my life. Good, bad, not yet come to pass, it doesn’t seem to…
Clothed in White
It started with an Easter dress. It ended on a cross. Growing up, Easter meant a new dress, church, and a basketful of treats. After moving out and living my own life through college and medical school, I’ve come full circle in some ways. When I got sick at 27, my parents again became my…
Hosanna
Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! The crowds surging around Jesus as he rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday joyfully echoed the words of Psalm 118:25-26. In the ESV translation, this psalm says, Save us we pray, O Lord… Blessed is he who comes in…
Under Threat of Darkness
I feel like a shell – hollow, like an Easter egg. Such utter emptiness is welcome, because otherwise what fills me is pain, torment, and anger. Sometimes, when the depression invades, hollowness is a gift. I have always written from my heart and my heart is crying out right now. Tonight, though, truth and light…
Before the Fire 