Category: Life Lessons
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Sin as the Refusal of Love: A Progressive Reflection on Today’s Office Readings
Today’s readings—Psalm 32, Jonah 3:1–4:11, Hebrews 3:1–14, and Luke 18:9–14—are oftenframed as being “about sin.” Traditionally, sin has been defined as transgression of divine law,falling short of holiness, or moral failure. While these definitions have biblical grounding, theyhave also too often fueled fear-based religion, legalism, and spiritual comparison—the veryposture Jesus critiques in the parable of…
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The Table, the Porch, and the Mystery
5 Three places have shaped my understanding of life more than I realized at the time: At first glance, they seem unrelated. One is sacred. One is domestic. One is fictional entertainment. But the older I get, the more I see they are all about the same thing: Mystery and connection. The Holy Mystery of…
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God Comes to Us in Many Different Ways
February 12 — A Life Lesson “Be still, and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10 There was a time in my life when I believed God spoke in only one way — through Scripture, through church, through sermons preached from a pulpit. But seventy-six years of living have taught me something different. God…
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🍃 Life Lessons from the Porch
Coming Home to Where the Story Began There are moments in life when you realize the road you have traveled was not taking you away from your beginnings — it was slowly guiding you back to understand them. Recently, I reread the Ethos page of this blog and recognized three truths that have quietly shaped…
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When Religion Wounds and Grace HealsPart Six: When “We’ve Always Done It This Way” Becomes Law
A reflection on Galatians 3:28 and Mark 7:23 A Pastoral Note for Wounded Readers If you have ever been corrected, scrutinized, or made to feel out of place in the church—not for lack of faith, but for how your faith was embodied—this reflection is written for you. Nothing here is meant to shame the church;…
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When God Needs Nothing—and Still Feeds the Hungry
A Devotional Reflection on Psalm 50, Galatians 3:1–14, and Mark 6:30–46 Scripture Readings God Is Not Sustained by Our Religion Psalm 50 opens with a startling declaration from God: “Every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills… I know all the birds of the air.” This psalm dismantles a deeply…
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When Religion Wounds and Grace Heals
A Final Benediction: Staying Where Love Abides This series began with an honest confession:that religion can wound, even when it means well.That Scripture can be used to frighten rather than to free.And that many of us learned to fear God long before we learned to trust Him. What we have been unlearning together is not…
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When Religion Wounds and Grace Heals
Part Five: Perfect Love Casts Out Fear (Faith That Endures When Certainty Fades) Core Thesis of the SeriesFear-based religion relies on control, punishment, and anxiety to shape behavior.Covenant faith invites trust, honesty, healing, and relationship with God. When Fear No Longer Works There comes a point in life when fear loses its power. Not because…
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When Religion Wounds and Grace Heals
Part Three: Walking in the Light, Not on Eggshells (1 John and Freedom from Fear) Core Thesis of the SeriesFear-based religion relies on control, punishment, and anxiety to shape behavior.Covenant faith invites trust, honesty, healing, and a relationship with God. When Faith Feels Like Surveillance For many of us formed by fear-based theology, faith became…
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When Religion Wounds and Grace Heals
Part Two: Hebrews 10 — Fear or Covenant? Core Thesis of the SeriesFear-based religion relies on control, punishment, and anxiety to shape behavior.Covenant faith invites trust, honesty, healing, and relationship with God. A Gentle Note to the Reader Before going any further, I want to say this clearly:If Hebrews 10 has ever frightened you—if it…
The Curious Pilgrim 