My friend Abraham lives in Jericho, the oldest city in the world. He’s the sheik of his small village, which hugs a hillside just out of town. I met him several years ago on the road to the old city, and he became my adjunct tour guide, and then gracious host. When I stepped across…
Standing Room Only
The line stretched two city blocks; all twenty something’s, clustered in groups, sipping lattes, laughing and taking phone shots. I kept walking and walking, thinking I would never find the end of the line. The club opened in half an hour, so I settled myself in the back of the line. When the line slowly…
The Albatross Moment
The Albatross Hotel sits a couple blocks from the Atlantic, a tired heavy-set Victorian B & B, in Ocean Grove New Jersey. I was there on a two-day personal retreat to clear my head, and try to get the weary out of my bones before the school year began. I hadn’t been able to shake…
Alone-Time Endurance
A few years ago I wrote a prayer exercise for a buddy of mine struggling to endure the solitude that prayer demands. I titled it, “Thirty Days to Connect to God’s Heart—a prayer primer.” He told me he wanted more intimacy, and prayer from everything he studied promised to deliver. But he didn’t know how…
Bending Birch
Bending birch trees has a lot to teach us about the way God grows our heart. Something more is at play when we pore over the Word, or carve out time to pray-the stuff of our devotional life. God is planting moral courage, and planning a funeral for our fears. It’s not about good feelings,…
The Myth of Ascent
The year was 1974, my brother JoJo and I had set out on a two day motorcycle camping trip, determined to follow the old railway line through northern New Jersey and up to the Delaware Water Gap. The abandoned line cut across farmland, under mountains, and was in a way our rite into adolescence. The…
Lift Up Your Eyes
The mountains whisper to me, An invitation to look up, But it’s not the rock, trees And flora that bring me focus. The knowledge of Another Who stretches through creation to Wrest my attention, lifts me beyond The highest peak, showing— Like a little child exploring the creases Of an old man’s face— The knowledge…
Brooklyn Half Marathon-Why Movement Matters
This morning I got out early for a run, heading to Prospect Park. Suddenly, I came face to face with the Brooklyn Half Marathon, and 25,000 runners of all shapes, age, ethnicity, and condition. I meandered to the starting area, and noticed that runners were passing, and so I turned and ran down a sidewalk,…
Wives…Pray!
If you’re a wife, keep praying for your husband! They are under spiritual attack, and you don’t even know the half of it. If your husband has any spiritual pluck, any over- sight of building any part of the wall of God’s kingdom, then he’s hard pressed, working with one hand, and holding a weapon…
Living in the After
It was late afternoon, and I sat on a park bench, watching the players on the court. I didn’t feel like crashing their party, didn’t feel like risking the fool among a throng of urban teens. I wanted to sit tight, and let the urging of the Holy Spirit pass, and then walk home and…
Your Best Single Hour
It was a prayer gathering in Sacramento, early 90’s. The room was filled with saints crying out to God, a rhythmic cadence of confession and proclamation. Pretty sweet. Then from the center of the room a man stood up, reached his arms to the roof and prayed. A hush fell over the crowd. “Oh God,”…
Cold Blooded Courage
Cold-blooded courage is in short supply. When we see it in others it moves us off our smug pedestal, and brings us face to face with God. Recently, I met a man whose 17 year-old fought a gallant battle with a rare cancer. In a video of her testimony, she makes light of her wig…
To Sir, with love 