Russellings of the Spirit

joy

  • Backwards mission

    It is now just an hour or so until we head to the airport. Joan and I are about to jump on a plane and join 16 other people for a week in Guatemala. Going from 25 degrees and snowing… Continue reading

  • Peace of the Perfect Circumstance

    Poor neighbor Nancy. You can’t see it very well in this picture, but Nancy and her husband Ned (not their real names, by the way. Are there any Neds left in the world anymore? I mean besides the Simpsons’ neighbor?) have a… Continue reading

  • Try Everything?

    Few things bring me greater joy in life than singing. I love the art and the discipline and the total immersion in the moment singing brings.  I sing in the car. I sing in the shower. I sing to our… Continue reading

  • Whole Again

    Is it possible to know too much? Or to be too educated? As an avid advocate of education, I would tend to answer these questions in the negative.  My argument would be that more harm has been done in (and… Continue reading

  • Scratching the Choir Itch

    There is something magical about singing. Especially when that singing is done in harmony with other people.  I am not musically intelligent enough to know how it all works, but when those people over there sing one note, the folks… Continue reading

  • Happy New Day

    So here we are… sitting in front of this gigantic, mysterious package; trying to figure out where and how to begin opening it… wondering what surprises, delights, horrors, or joys it might contain. The mysterious package I refer to is,… Continue reading

  • One Step at a Time

    Amid some stiffness, soreness, and a bit of fatigue, there is also some genuine satisfaction bubbling up in my spirit today. That is because yesterday, I managed to climb Horsetooth Rock… an iconic Fort Collins landmark.  At a mere 7500… Continue reading

  • Particles of Wonder

    Last weekend Joan and I went to the mountains. It was glorious. It was majestic. It was beautiful. It was awe-inspiring. It was a breath-taking reminder of the splendor of God’s creation. It drove me to my knees in a… Continue reading

  • Blades of Grass

    I was supposed to go to my 50th high school class reunion last year. Instead, all members of the Hilliard (Ohio) High School class of 1970 spent our reunion year cowering inside hermetically sealed isolation suits, trying our best to avoid… Continue reading

  • Trusting the Master Mapmaker

    I am not exactly sure when it started, but for a very long time I’ve had a deep fascination with MAPS. I remember my very real excitement when – at the age of eight or nine – my grandfather handed… Continue reading