memories

Let Us Begin Again

2024-01-01T17:45:55+00:00By Joel|Creative, francis of assisi, memories|

cusp: a point of transition (as from one historical period to the next) Once again, we are on a cusp. We wake up. We start the coffee. We begin again, literally but also metaphorically. The call of the moment is to bravely reset on the successes and failures as well. It's a new day to create with our lives. To breathe hope into hopeless spaces, and to scrape art into the scratchboard of life. St. Bonaventure tells us that towards the end of his life St. Francis would tell the other friars: “Let us begin again, brothers, for up until now, we have done little or nothing.” Francis – who did much, and whose legacy lives [...]

Don’t Let Me Forget: The song on the radio in a room called “Remember”

2022-06-03T18:04:48+00:00By Joel|Audio, Memoirs, memories, Nomad Chronicles|

This week I've been pondering, as many have, the end of this year. The spiritual practice of "Remembering" has become a helpful and comfortable place for me over the years. Like broken in jeans, or shoes, or that piece of furniture that has become contoured to your shape over time. I've recently been thinking of a Frederick Buechner book entitled, "A Room Called Remember." The book is introduced and themed around a dream that Buechner had. He had a dream where he was staying in an incredibly euphoric hotel room but when he left it he found that he couldn’t find it again. He went to a front desk to explain his predicament, and the room, [...]

The Peace of God [Audio]

2019-12-27T16:31:02+00:00By Joel|discipleship, Kingdom of God, memories, prayer, Spiritual Formation, theology, Worldview|

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." John 14:27 "The peace of God is not about the mere absence of conflict, but rather about His abiding presence throughout whatever comes our way." December 8, 2019; Invitation to Peace Peace. It's a topic that I keep coming back to. It's like north on my heart's compass. I may get off-track. I do get off-track, but 'peace' - it keeps leading me back. I never understood why until my feet wore to callouses and, well, my heart did too I guess. I've walked [...]

39 and the journey

2018-01-16T06:48:42+00:00By Joel|Abandonment, Memoirs, memories, Music, trust|

Today I turn 39. One soul-training exercise that I do: create space to remember God's faithfulness. Part of that process is letting go of the frailty fixations of my false self (i.e. regret), and I believe part of that process is inviting Holy Spirit to give me proper perspective on what really matters in life. As I approached my birthday this year, I couldn't help but remember a song that I wrote back in 1999, called 39 (a letter home). Anyone who knows me knows that a conceptual theme for me is the fleetingness of life, and in light of that this place is not our final destination...it's not our home in that sense. We are [...]