Vague Prayer, Specific Answers

Fallen Coast Live Oak, Quercus agrifolia   When a Tree Falls Yesterday morning, as I do each morning, I prayed while showering. Usually I use this time to pray specifically about the day ahead, lifting up friends and family with needs, giving thanks, and asking for help with the challenges I foresee. It’s a good habit for […]


Called to Serve

God’s Got your Number Did a situation ever get under your skin, moving you to act? Rowdy Metzger has a tale about that. On October 16, in Pasadena, a young father abandoned his car in a parking garage, leaving his three-year-old son strapped in his car seat, and stumbled away, drunk. Police subsequently arrested him for […]


Coming up for Air

California’s Mojave Desert Miners, Miracles, and Answered Prayers It seems the whole world held its breath as 33 miners, trapped for 69 days in a collapsed mine in Chile, were rescued in an inspiring display of ingenuity, bravery, and international cooperation. The New York Times compared the rescue to that of the Apollo 13 mission. I […]


Out on A Limb

 Tall Eucalyptus with Brittle Branches Why Birds have Wings, and We Don’t Last week I watched as a crow lit on a branch high in this tree, outside my office. The limb gave way under the bird’s weight. The crow rode down about fifty feet, still perched on the falling branch. No more than ten feet from the […]


Walk Through Fire

The Santiago Fire, October, 2007 A Great Big Faith Yesterday I read again the story of  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who during the Jews’ time of exile to Babylon were thrown into the fiery furnace by an outraged King Nebuchadnezzar for refusing to worship a giant gold idol he had erected. It’s an amazing tale […]