A colleague of mine — someone I've known for almost fifteen years, another worship leader, a careful and thoughtful one — said something to me last summer that I've been sitting with ever since.We were talking about the church year, somewhere in the middle of July. I'd been writing about...
A few years ago, a student in one of my classes — sharp kid, grew up in church, knew his Bible — turned in a paper on the church calendar. He walked through Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter with real care. Then there was a sentence that just said: "And then...
One of my students came to me a few years ago — I'll call her Mia — near the end of February. She sat down in my office and didn't say much for a moment. Then she said: "I've been feeling really off this month. Not sad exactly. Just... heavy....
My neighbor texted me on December 26th.The text said: "That was fast."Two words. That was it. But I knew exactly what she meant, and I think you probably do too. She wasn't talking about the drive to her parents' house or the speed at which her kids opened presents. She...
A friend of mine — I'll call him David — grew up in the same kind of church I did. Contemporary. Energetic. The kind of place where December meant Christmas music from the first Sunday of the month, sometimes earlier. Bright lights, full production, the works. He loved it. So...