Last month as I celebrated Father’s Day with my two sons who are fathers I was filled with gratitude for God’s gift of children. This morning I was reflecting on the thousands of prayers I’ve prayed for them through the last four decades - that God would protect them, that they would know the love of Christ, that they would discover happiness and contentment in life, that they would have a faith in God that would sustain them through tumultuous seasons, that they would be grateful each morning for their blessings, that they would have compassion for others, that they might live a full life and and be blessed with children and perhaps grandchildren, and on and on and on.

In this post I’ve attached another poignant essay from Brian Doyle titled “A Father’s Day Prayer” in which he recounts his own personal life of prayers for his children both unborn and born. The picture above was taken shortly before Brian died at age 60 of a brain tumor. May this reading be a blessing to you.

In 1972 Seals and Crofts released the album Summer Breeze which my wife to be and I both owned and listened to throughout our college years. The album contains the achingly beautiful and timeless song “Hummingbird” that ends with the lyrics:

“Hummingbird don’t fly away,
alas here comes the gardener,
He’s come to till the flowers,
the draught of understanding,
wisdom peace and love is ours.”

This post includes a video of photographs I took of hummingbirds in my back yard during Covid along with this beautiful song. The post closes with a soul-stirring Mary Oliver poem titled “The Messenger” and associated scripture that speaks to the last words of Mary’s poem. Like Job, may our hearts yearn within us for that day when we shall see God face to face.

I received an email recently from a friend who in his closing wrote, “And the greatest of these is love.” Some of you may recognize this as the very last words from 1st Corinthians 13, the great chapter on love. What does this chapter say about love? That it’s patient and kind, not jealous or boastful. It’s not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It’s not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice in the wrong but rejoices in the right. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. And several verses later the chapter closes with “So faith, hope, love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.”

The day after I received my friend’s email, I came across a thoughtful essay by Brian Doyle titled “The Final Frontier”, in which he describes his life long journey of transformation from arrogance to humility and love. Brian died at age 60 of a brain tumor just 16 months after writing this essay. A friend in a eulogy wrote, “He was a man of uncommon faith—uncommon in this era, and just plain uncommon. His stories—and everything was a story to Brian—his stories about wrestling with/thanking the "Great Omniscient Narrator" are unique and yet stunningly universal. May you find and experience this love as you journey through this life.

Around 1940 Edward Hughson, my great grandfather, wrote to my mother, Mary, and aunt, Helen, a series of poems about his observations of nature in the backyard of his home called “Hilltop Farm” in the Oakland Hills. Edward, known as Poppie to his granddaughters, was born in 1882 in Kansas and died in Oakland in 1945 at age 63. My mother saved these poems and I reproduced them in a small booklet shown above.

This post includes a poem titled, “Wonders of Nature” and the final poem in the book dedicated to his granddaughters. Although I never knew Poppie his faith in God, revealed in his poems, inspired me growing up, so much so that today I am called “Poppie” by my grandchildren. Is there anyone in your life who encouraged you in your faith journey? If so, you might consider thanking them if they are still alive.

Clearly what we believe matters, as our beliefs shape who we are and the decisions we make in life. Sometimes, however, it is difficult for people to articulate what they believe. The early church recognized this and developed concise summaries of the essential doctrines of the Christian faith that were used in personal and public confession. Although not divinely inspired, these ancient statements of faith were intended to help unite believers with the fundamental truths revealed in Scripture.

Although the authorship is unknown, one of the most well known creeds is “The Apostles’ Creed”. It was based on a 2nd century creed called the “Old Roman Creed” which was enlarged over the next few centuries to the version used today.

This post includes the Apostles’ Creed, an essay on the importance of the creed by Dr. Albert Mohler, and a poignant live performance of the song “Creed” by Rich Mullins who died just 5 months after this recording in a tragic car accident on the way to a benefit concert.

Last December my father and I were watching Christmas hymns on YouTube. We happened to stumble on a trio of college age siblings who had posted several hymns on a YouTube channel called “Life in 3D”. The simplicity of their videos reveals a beauty and authenticity that is often lost with overproduced music. What shines through in their music is the God given gift of their voices which He has multiplied to bring joy and blessing to millions of people.

This post includes relevant scripture, their video of “The Prayer” sung by two of the siblings, and an article about how they came to starting this channel along with two other videos, “O, Holy Night” and “Amazing Grace”.

The apostle Peter writes “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. (1 Peter 4:10). These three siblings are doing just that. May we likewise be inspired to use whatever gifts God has given us to bless others.

At a memorial reception in August 2013 I had a wonderful but unexpected visit with one of my late mother’s life-long friends, Kathleen Jackson. A couple months later I received an email from her which said, “I think I told you that I teach/facilitate a Christian Creative Writing class at San Quentin. The men have written some pretty powerful pieces and I am trying to get exposure for them. I would really appreciate your thoughts on this…blogging? website? publishing? Anything you think of, advice you have, I would love to hear.” This began a meaningful eight month group collaboration with Kathleen and the Men in Blue, culminating in the publishing of a book titled “Bind the Testimony”, available for purchase on Amazon.

This post contains Kathleen’s moving testimony, her introduction for the book, and a video of the Men in Blue reading excerpts of their written testimonies in the San Quentin chapel. As I reflect today on Kathleen’s and my visit over a decade ago, I am reminded of an email my cousin sent me a few months ago in which she wrote, “At this life stage, I fully believe that what we call serendipity is grace happening in every moment, calling to us, if we have ears to hear and eyes to see.” May we be blessed in recognizing and responding to these moments of God’s grace. Amen.

“What do we really know well about any creature, including most of all ourselves, and how is it that even though we know painfully little about anything, we often manage world-wrenching hubris about our wisdom?”, asks Brian Doyle in this short essay as he reflects on the mysteries of this life as he puts his children to bed. Included in this post is relevant scripture and a fascinating video about God’s amazingly complex design in His creation.

About 600 years ago, Thomas à Kempis, an Augustinian monk, wrote four booklets that became collectively known as The Imitation of Christ. This short book greatly influenced future Christian writers such as Martin Luther, Samuel Johnson, and George Eliot. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, believed it contained the best summary of the Christian life he had ever read. To this day, The Imitation of Christ remains one of the most influential devotional works in Christian history. I first read the book in college and rediscovered it just recently.

This post includes chapter 54 from this book (On the Contrary Workings of Nature and Grace) and also a poignant short clip from the movie, The Tree of Life, directed by Terrence Malick. As God in Christ has imparted grace to us may we, through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, impart this same grace to others.

Isaiah 55:10-13 . . . “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord’s renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed.”

This post includes excerpts from a sermon Charles Spurgeon preached in 1887 reflecting on this beautiful and heartwarming passage from Scripture and a video link to the joyful 1st movement of Vivaldi’s spring. May you in this spring season “go out in joy and be led forth in peace” and may God’s word not return to Him empty but accomplish His purposes for you.

In the Bible God commands His people to, “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy” (Lev 19:2). Later in the Sermon of the Mount Jesus declared, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matt 5:48). How can we reconcile these commands to be holy and perfect with the truth that we’re unable to do so? Later, Jesus revealed a clue as to how this seemingly impossible situation would be rectified when he told His disciples, “What’s impossible with man is possible with God” (Luke 18:27).

So how did God make this reconciliation possible? Paul explained, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor 5:21). Paul further stated that, “We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ.” (Romans 3:22).

This post includes biblical encounters with the holiness of God by Moses, Isaiah, Simon Peter, the disciples, Saul, and John. It also includes a video on holiness by The Bible Project titled, “Is God Dangerous?”, and a moving song by Addison Road, “What Do I Know of Holy?” May you be blessed this day with a greater understanding of the holiness of God.

For the last few years my dad and I have followed the extraordinary career of Sydney McLaughlin, the current 400 meter hurdle world record holder. Until last week we were not aware that she suffered from crippling fear and anxiety for several years as she believed her value as a person was based on how she performed and what others thought about her.

In January 2024 a memoir of her life from 2016-2022 was published titled “Far Beyond Gold: Running From Fear to Faith” in which Sydney shares her journey that leads her to realize her identity is lasting and secure only when rooted by faith in Jesus Christ, who promises His love to her whether she wins or loses.

This post includes a couple excerpts from her book and videos that bring her story to life. May Sydney’s story be an encouragement to each of us as we wrestle with understanding not so much “who we are” but “whose we are”.

When we think of Jesus one of the images that comes to mind is that of a lamb. John the Baptist, in fact, just before baptizing Jesus, declared Him to be “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” While Jesus described Himself as “gentle and humble in heart”, there is another title of Jesus in Scripture that is the complete opposite of this. That title is the Lion of Judah. In the Lion, we see the mighty power of Christ as the eternal King exalted over of all creation to whom “every knee should bow”, and in contrast, in the Lamb, we see the meekness of Jesus whose sacrificial death on the cross atoned for the sin of all humankind.

This post includes relevant scripture, an excerpt from the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis describing Aslan (the powerful yet gentle lion), a painting by Sally Breston of Aslan, and a short video and story about this painting by Sally and her mother, Dee. May this post lead you to greater awe and wonder of the incarnate Son of God, who is indeed both the mighty Lion and the meek and gentle Lamb.

In 2012, when I was a deacon at church, we were asked at the start of the year to choose a scriptural word or phrase to live into for the year. After some reflection, I chose the scriptural phrase “pray without ceasing” as I felt my prayer life was lacking. This scripture has stuck with me to this day and I still often use “PWC” in closing an email. It is an important reminder that I (that we) live in a loving relationship with the triune God and that ongoing communication with Him is key to a healthy relationship.

To help me when praying, I came up with twelve words about prayer, each beginning with the letter “P”, which I memorized to remind me of the many attributes of prayer. As you read this post, you might consider a scriptural word or phrase to focus on in this New Year. In my experience it was life changing. May it be so for you as well.

“Instead of regarding the Bible as only a “Book of Answers” for our questions, it is worthwhile to think of it as a “Book of Questions” for our answers. As we listen, God questions us so that we can know him by means of a dialog in our hearts. As any good teacher knows, when a student earnestly wrestles with a question he learns more than if he were given a straightforward answer. Similarly, the Lord gives us permission to be without answers so that we will be free to seek, to struggle, and to own what we come to understand through our relationship with Him.” (John Parsons)

This post includes a moving essay by Brian Doyle that reflects on the last words spoken by his brother, Kevin. “The answer is in the questioning”, he said. Also included is a thought provoking essay by Scott Hubbard titled “Ask the Bible Anything - Why God Rewards the Hardest Questions.” I believe you will discover that as you seek answers to your questions in the Bible, you will find the Bible is also asking profound questions of you.

Throughout the centuries when Christians have gathered in worship they have traditionally recited the Lord’s prayer. Although most people have memorized the prayer, it has become so familiar to us that we often say it by rote and don't think about its meaning.

When Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, He gave His disciples the Lord’s prayer as a template for them and for us to use when praying. Jesus instructions were to begin the prayer saying, “Our Father…”, a stunning realization that Jesus is telling us that His Father is also our Father and that Christ is not only our Savior and Lord, but also our brother.

In his book “The Lord’s Prayer: A Guide to Praying to Our Father”, Wesley Hill re-introduces the Lord’s Prayer in a way for us to better understand how this prayer gives hope, meaning, and direction for our lives today. May this post be an encouragement to you this day.

In 2005, David Foster Wallace stepped onto the podium at Kenyon College and delivered one of the most timeless commencement speeches of all time. On September 12, 2008, just three years later, after David took his own life, his speech was adapted into a short book titled: “This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life”.

My oldest son shared with me this commencement speech a few years ago. I’ve since read it a couple dozen times and it never fails to remind me that rich spiritual meaning is present in the ordinary moments of our lives if we are willing to pay attention. May it be so.

Over the last three years I’ve taken thousands of pictures of hummingbirds in my backyard. These incredible creatures are a wonder to observe, but difficult to capture in photos. In fact, just a handful of the images I’ve taken are good enough to keep. In this post I’ve included a few of these photos, a moving essay by Brian Doyle, titled Joyas Voladoras (an ode to the heart), and related scripture.

This essay is the lead piece in a posthumously published collection of Brian’s essays titled One Long River of Song: Notes on Wonder. It speaks of the hearts of hummingbirds, tortoises, whales, and humans. Doyle closes with a profound truth of how much we humans hold in our hearts during our lifetimes that isn’t revealed to anyone; yet scripture reveals that the secrets of our hearts are known by God.

I remember a few years ago when I saw a video of a murmuration of starlings I was amazed. The beauty, harmony, and grace of tens of thousands of these birds gathering in flight in perfect synchronization left me in absolute awe of the God of creation.

Although the term “murmuration” is a phenomenon that describes the large scale gathering and coordinated movements of starlings, it might also be applied to any large group of animals that move and act in a highly synchronized and coordinated manner.

The Reverend Kristen Marble writes:

As I consider the contrast between a single Common Starling and a collection of starlings joined together, I can’t help but to reflect on how this mirrors the Church. Single, solitary Christians have small to medium-sized impact, with only a few interesting or inspiring results.  But, when Christians join together as the Church, the body of Christ, numbering in the millions, something mystically beautiful transpires.  The Church ebbs and flows, changing shape and style.  Constantly changing arrangements.  Continually guided by new leaders. Creating impact upon the world it serves.

May we learn from the starlings and, animated by the Holy Spirit, join individually together into one great murmuration for Christ, the Leader of the flock. This post includes relevant scripture, inspiring meditations by Jean Wise and Mark Pattison, dramatic images and videos of starling murmurations, and a poem by Mary Oliver.

This post includes a day in the life of Jesus from the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark followed by a beautiful meditation on this scripture from Alfred Edersheim’s book, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. Every time I read this mediation I feel like I’ve been transported back to first century Capernaum to witness with awe what happened that day. Edersheim writes: “One must be blind, indeed, who sees not in this Physician the Divine Healer; in this Christ the Light of the World; the Restorer of what sin had blighted; the Joy in our world’s deep sorrow.”

Edersheim (1825-1889) was a Vienna born biblical scholar who converted from Judaism to Christianity in his early 20’s. He believed that some knowledge of ancient Jewish society was necessary for the reader of the New Testament to fully understand Jesus' life and works.