It looks like a creature from a sci-fi movie, but it hits people’s gardens unaware every year, eating the foliage off plants in bucket loads. My sister Karen found one recently in her garden. She had seen the damage on the plants, but couldn’t find the beast. Then she spotted it in the cucumbers! The…

My good friend sent me a note this week. He’s in what he says are the darkest days of his life. Then he quoted Abe Lincoln, who confided to a friend, “I’ve got weary that rest can’t reach.” I know a little of how he feels, having gone through a similar stretch. It came on…

I spotted an open chair, splashed in sunlight in the corner of the room where a young man sat scrunched over a newspaper. “Is this taken,” I asked? He gestured for me to sit down. When I got settled I tilted my face toward the beam. “Beautiful day,” I said, mostly to myself, yet the…

For 34 years now, God has wisely and patiently peeled away the skin of Galatians 2:20 for me to apply. The most recent revelation occurred last week as I meditated on the phrase, “the life I now live, I live by faith.” Whether it’s in the day to day, or in face of steep temptation,…

The door opened, and he moved slowly onto the train. As he did so, people moved back, staring at a face marred by a long stapled wound across his cheek, tattoos covering his face and head, piercings through his lips. His look showed disdain like a caged wild animal. He stepped in front of me…

Renewal, the rinsing away of dead things, both personal and traditional, requires from us a resilient strength. God instructed Isaiah, “you who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest, and give him no rest.” God is asking some to take seriously the call to be vigilant in waiting upon Him. ‘Those who wait upon…

Rush hour traffic, New York City. The taxi driver swerved hard left to avoid collision, cursed and sped forward. I had just told him about my first encounter with Jesus Christ, and how love had won over skepticism. In response, he had craned his neck to talk about God as Creator, one to be feared…

It happened on the five line. Grand Central at Lexington, the train pulls into the station, crowds of pushy travelers board. I’m standing in the middle of them when the doors close. Somewhere someone is talking above the din, and a quiet hush ensues. It’s a homeless man again, I think to myself. Another story…

I want to show you the heart of the Gospel, by recounting a story I read many years ago. The novel was titled, Secret Battle, which Winston Churchill prefaced by saying, “is the story of a young man tested to destruction.” The setting is World War I, and England’s finest are falling at the rate…

During Christ’s final week He taught in the temple, “and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives.” We don’t know what he did on that hardscrabble heap, certainly didn’t get a good night’s rest. I’ve been there, nothing but rocks and roots! I bet he…

The German Group The cafe was mobbed, no chance for a seat. All I needed was a half hour to put the final touches on a project. I ordered a coffee and miraculously a seat opened in the corner. Plugged in and focused and I began to work. Yet, no sooner had I typed the…

Erica Jung said, “If, every day, I dare to remember that I am here on loan, that this house, this hillside, these minutes are all leased to me, not given, I will never despair. Despair is for those who expect to live forever. I no longer do.” Her views are humanist, yet if we listen,…