You See My Affliction
A meditation on Psalm 31:7, a poem by Luci Shaw, and, as always, art for you to enjoy
A Spacious Place
A landscape of grace, a poem about seasons of change by Jane Kenyon, and excerpts from my reading
Until These Storms Pass
A prayer based on Psalm 57, poetry by Malcolm Guite, a pair of books I'm rereading, and more
A Rock of Refuge Amid the Swirling Currents of My Fears
A prayer based on Psalm 18, N.T. Wright on beauty, a poem about sorrow by Mary Oliver, and more
Joy in God's Creation
Glimpses of beauty and words of hope for when life is crappy.
Christ is Risen!
I have more prayers, poems, and art for you this week. Check it out below
The Fountain of Everlasting Light
A medieval prayer, the poetic imagination, a delightful novel about a remote Irish village, and more
Draw Me to Yourself
Anselm of Canterbury's prayer of longing for more of Christ
Wearied by the Changes and Chances of This Fleeting Life
A prayer for weary souls from The Scottish Book of Common Prayer (1929)
We Give You Humble and Hearty Thanks
An extended prayer of gratitude from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer
Ineffable Sea of Love
A third-century prayer
Let Your Reviving Smile Cheer My Fainting Heart
A prayer drawing on Anne Steele’s poetry
Restore My Drought-Stricken Soul
A prayer to the God who brings life to desert places
For Feeling Abandoned by God
A pilgrim prayer
You Uphold My Life
A Pilgrim Prayer
Your Tender Mercies
A prayer for weary souls longing to be refreshed
I Stink at Praying
How writing my prayers helps me stink a little less at praying.
The Ancient Roots of a Classic Advent Hymn
More than any other hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” signals the start of the Advent season.
The Grace of the Morning
Don't miss Zack Eswine's beautiful piece on receiving the grace of Jesus in the early hours of the day.
Bring Your Emotions Before God
Trying to suppress our emotions is like trying to hold a beach ball under the water: it only works for so long. Eventually, one way or another, the emotions shoot back up to the surface. So what should we do with them? The Psalms invite us to be open and unafraid before God with our emotions.
A Thicker Understanding of Joy
Joy is notoriously difficult to define. Is it a feeling? An emotion? A state? Is joy the same as happiness? Joy defies simple definition. But we can still talk meaningfully about it.
Beauty Out of Brokenness
God redeems the broken fragments of our lives. He mends and restores, not by hiding our failures and scars, but by creating beauty out of the brokenness.
Christ of the Abyss
Close to 1,000 feet off Italy’s Ligurian coast, between Camogli and Portofino, an eight-foot-tall, 900-pound bronze statue of Jesus Christ stands on the...