4th Day Letters

Let's face it, at one time or another we've probably all become lost while driving. Most of us don’t get lost because we failed to plan. We get lost because we were so sure we knew the way. Our confidence often shows up just before life gently reminds us who should...

This is one of the most difficult 4th Day Letters I have ever written. I've tried to measure every word carefully. Today, I am writing about suicide. Suicide has felt far too close lately. Within a short span of time, I have experienced a cousin die by suicide, a...

The other day I was driving down the road running a few errands when one of my favorite songs from the 1970s came on the radio. Anyone who has ever ridden in the car with me already knows what happens next. I cannot drive without singing along with the music. If a...

Most of us have heard the song Mr. Bojangles. Few of us have noticed how much of our own story is hidden inside it. We remember a time when joy came naturally, and most of us know what it feels like when that step is lost. Is it time to learn to dance again? Please...

A few weeks ago, my daughter called early one morning and handed the phone to my five-year-old grandson Lincoln. In his enthusiastic little voice he asked, “Papa, can we go to Chex Mix Roadhouse tonight?” I had no idea what he was talking about. Together, in today’s...

Every year St. Patrick’s Day arrives with celebration and tradition. But when that celebration lands in the middle of Lent, it raises an interesting question. What does a saint known for faith, perseverance, and transformation have to say to us during a season devoted...

Some lives look too damaged to matter. Too marked by failure to be useful. In today’s message, we reflect on a famous artist whose personal life was deeply troubled, yet whose work has helped people encounter Christ for centuries. It is a quiet but powerful reminder...

Most of us carry patterns in our lives that did not begin yesterday. Certain reactions, comforts, preferences, and struggles seem to follow us year after year, even when our desire to grow is sincere. During this season of preparation before Easter, we are invited to...

Many of us have experienced a moment in our faith so powerful, so peaceful, so unmistakably God-filled that we quietly wished it would never end. Perhaps it happened on a retreat, in a quiet hour of prayer, during Lent, or in a season when everything else seemed to...

Tomorrow, February 18, is Ash Wednesday. In many Christian traditions, it marks the beginning of Lent, a season of spiritual preparation leading toward Holy Week and Easter. Some Christians observe Ash Wednesday directly, others do not. But for all believers, this...