Today is Ash Wednesday. More than 70 Episcopal parishes in 18 states will bring Ash Wednesday to the streets, kicking off the Lenten season with a twist.They’ll offer the Christian sign of repentance — a smudged cross of ashes on the forehead — to anyone who seeks it in train...
To Follow
posted by Glenn Simmons
If I said to you, “follow me”, wouldn’t you think we were going somewhere, maybe the two of us journeying together? And if someone said ‘follow me”, wouldn’t we assume one person is a kind of guide, and maybe that person already knows the way and wants...
The Six-fingered Man
posted by Aaron Manes
The most famous swordfight I know about is Inigo Montoya and the six-fingered man in “The Princess Bride.” Remember how in the Baz Luhrmann remake of “Romeo and Juliet” the swords were guns? I always thought that was a cool twist. Swords don’t make much sense any more. Last...
Fasting
posted by Steve Wyer
Four years ago, I lost a lot of weight. Our family was vacationing in northern Wisconsin and I brought several books to read; one was on fasting. We love Wisconsin even though it is a twenty-hour, two day drive each way. When we arrive we give ourselves permission to “unplug.” No TV,...
Eternal Ideas
posted by Aaron Manes
I have lived a lot of my life on a face value level. I hope that if you know me personally you would see me live out what I profess as belief. I have always hoped this for other people also and honestly I have an expectation of it. This has caused me some pain over the years because I...
New Eyes
posted by Barbara Wyer
It was sometime during the fourth grade that my ten-year-old nose was coerced into cohabitating with a pair of spectacles. At least that’s the year they began showing up in school pictures, little pink cat eyes that made me look perpetually shell-shocked. I hated wearing them, and finally...
STAY ON THE ROAD
posted by Glenn Simmons
My wife and I have a 15 year old at home. That means he has his learners permit. We are trying to let him drive as much as possible, so when the time comes for his solo days we will have some sense of peace and comfort for him as well as the rest of Nashville. He is going through all of the...
The Paradox of Safe
posted by Aaron Manes
One Sunday afternoon on my way home from the post-church lunch, I experienced a paradox. There was a guy standing on a street corner in a well-trafficked mall area toting a large wooden cross over his shoulder. The cross was about 6 feet tall and made of 4×4’s. Not the heaviest thing, also not the lightest. He was making a spectacle on this frigid day and I think he belonged to the group that believes the world is ending in May. I at first was put off but then I admired his devotion and his belief that would get him out there. He smiled and waved and people passed and honked depending on their reaction to him. He was...
Shut up and Listen
posted by Barbara Wyer
Last Friday afternoon I was tearing around the house like a bat out of hell, tossing things in a suitcase helter-skelter and keeping one eye on the clock. I had an appointment with God in western Tennessee. In a moment of weakness, I’d signed up for a guided silent retreat at a convent somewhere on the way to Memphis. All I knew is that it was two and a half hours from Franklin and it didn’t take second grade math to figure out that I was leaving too late to arrive on time. Sigh! Not the best way to begin my weekend of retreat from manic modernity to silent listening. Welcome to my world. Too much to do – good things, most of...
Inconvenient Trees 3
posted by Aaron Manes
Part 3: The Tree of Life The wilderness, the unknown, the future – these are the things that trouble us throughout our lives. For many of us this existence is a scary thing. We try not to think about it so much but sometimes we can’t help it – or at minimum I can’t help it. So...