I’m pleased to announce the publication of my brand new book, Same Old, Same New: The Consolation of the Ordinary. Similar in format to my book Champagne for the Soul, this one too has 90 short devotional chapters, each one exploring the theme of finding meaning and joy in the ordinary things of life. Here’s a sample chapter entitled “The Secret of Contentment.”
In my youth I joined the choir at my family’s Anglican church. We weren’t Christians then, just pew warmers; but when I revisited that church recently, I realized what a profound influence it had had on my early spiritual formation.
According to Truman Capote, “The things we’re ashamed of are what make us interesting.” So let’s talk about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
What is your favorite psalm? Many would say Psalm 23, and a close second might be Psalm 139.
One of my devotional practices for Lent has been to meditate on paintings of the life of Christ, particularly the works of three artists: James Tissot, Georges Rouault, and William Kurelek.
I’m not really a poet, but all my life I’ve written poems occasionally when the mood strikes. Here are three recent efforts.
As we journey through Lent I’ve been pondering the nature of temptation.
On a visit to my aunt and uncle as a teenager, one day I was left to babysit my two young cousins.
Currently I’m at work on a novel—a sci-fi/fantasy about angels and aliens—and while writing this essay I noticed that my story actually contains all the gateways to childhood that I’ve been describing.
If childlikeness were a country, it would have many border crossings.