One gorgeous morning last fall, sitting out on my front porch, I noticed a bee that seemed somehow stranded. He remained in one place for a long while, rhymically moving his abdomen as though trying to recover from some trauma, or perhaps just performing some mysterious biological function.
I’m proud to say that my daughter Heather Mills takes after her father in some remarkable ways. For one thing, she’s a wonderful writer. The following is an example borrowed from her blog page Watermark Words. I think this piece is a great way to start off 2018. Happy New Year everybody!
I love Christmas stories. Besides having several shelves full of Christmas books, I have an annual tradition of writing a new story to send out as a greeting to friends.
My new book, Jesus: His Story In Stone, which was published last year as a series of 72 blog posts, is now available in book form! Here’s the story of how I came to write it.
Before having a shower (usually late at night), I always run a few inches of warm water in the tub, and for 15 minutes I lie there and soak. When I say soak, I don’t just mean my body but my spirit. Letting go of all worries and distracting thoughts, I sink into my heart and simply rest in the presence of God. To put it another way, I take this time for contemplative prayer.
You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? … Even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! … As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves! (Gal 3:1; 1:8; 5:12)
I became a Christian in September, 1981, while reading Paul’s letter to the Galatians. At the time I didn’t understand much of it, but somehow I grasped that it was about truth and freedom and how these were to be found only in Christ. Paul’s words seemed to leap from the page like flames of fire, and stricken with conviction I fell to my knees and gave my heart to Jesus.
Recently I was asked how I go about writing a devotional book. I answered that “going about” is a good way to put it, since I do not approach such a project directly or in any deliberate way.
In 1998 Loretta Ross-Gotta began spending time alone in prayer at a hermitage. Before long she found herself immersed in a deep, extraordinary conversion of soul. I love the following passage from her wonderful book, Letters from the Holy Ground, which describes this early period of getting alone with God:
Last week I described the difference between logos and rhema: logos referring to the whole of scripture, and rhema to those verses which from time to time light up for us. The whole Bible is the word of God, but a particular verse may be His personal word to us at a certain time.