Russellings of the Spirit

disease

  • TODAY’S FORECAST

    Sometimes it all just gets to be a little much, doesn’t it? I continue to wait in vain for the scales of justice to tip even minutely back toward balance. I ask; the rich CAN’T just continue getting richer, can… Continue reading

  • Healings!

    Praise God!  I’ve been healed!  Not just once, but TWICE! After struggling for months and months with persistent knee pain (due to a fall suffered while walking two VERY excited Wheaten Terriers on a trail through Custer State Park), I got a… Continue reading

  • News to Me

    In the morning it is usually NPR’s Morning Edition, followed by 1A, and then – time permitting, of course – a smidgen or two of The Takeaway with Tanzina Vega. In the evening we rarely miss a date with Lester Holt and the NBC… Continue reading

  • Questioning Church

    For most of my life, there has been very little question about church. To be sure, different chapters have witnessed different relationships to church. There was the “blind obedience” stage, the “I’m just here to meet cute girls” stage, the… Continue reading

  • Take Hope

    “But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?” Romans 8:24, NRSV. Hope is a precious commodity these days. On some days, it can be harder to find than that ever-elusive toilet paper. We squint and look at the… Continue reading

  • Safe at home?

    Let me ask you: how safe do you feel right now? I will answer first by confessing that most of the time, I feel pretty safe. My safety, I am well aware, derives largely from the privilege I enjoy as… Continue reading

  • Something from Nothing, Part 1

    Over the course of my 20 years in professional ministry, I like to think I have offered some measure of comfort to people who have come to me seeking counsel in the midst of deep, personal crises. But I know… Continue reading

  • Before and After

    It was over 20 years ago, but it was a period that still holds the title of “Absolute Worst Time of My Life.” It was the time when my marriage of 23 years crashed and burned… one hundred percent due… Continue reading

  • Disease to Please

    “Did I please you?” It was a silly question… asked, as it were, in the middle of my euphoric vocalizations and lip smacks. But I suspect the silliness of the question was a big part of the reason she asked… Continue reading