As we approach December it’s time for a reminder of my book 21 Candles: Stories for Christmas. Here’s one of those stories, which a friend liked so much that he read it to his family every Christmas Day for over three decades. Read on …
Category Archives: Stories and Excerpts
Dreambums: A Parable
The following story was originally published in 1989 in my book The Furniture of Heaven & Other Parables. Reading it now over three decades later, it strikes me as more than a little prophetic. See what you think. (Also available as a video.)
TESTING 1-2-3: A Spiritual Sound Check
Life is a great mystery, and we have many questions.
Especially we wonder about evil and suffering.
Why? Why? Why?
These Are the Glory Days: Beginning Eternity Now
Back in the 80’s a favorite worship song of mine—and of just about everyone I knew—was “You Are My Hiding Place” by Michael Ledner.
How To Be Free: Let God Be God
If you want to be free, begin by having a God who is free. Let Him be free to do whatever He wants. He’s going to anyway, whether you like it or not, so you might as well give Him your blessing.
Easter Dawn: Three Poems for Easter
Three poems celebrating Christ’s Easter victory over death. He is risen! Alleluia!
Good Friday: A Poem by Christina Rossetti
The speaker in Rossetti’s poem feels like a stone for being unable to properly grieve the suffering and death of Christ.
The Real Santa Claus: A Christmas Parable
This one’s not in my book Twenty-One Candles: Stories for Christmas because it was written later. Merry Christmas, everybody!
Christmas in El Salvador, 1981
An American priest visited a displaced persons’ refuge in El Salvador in 1981 and wrote the following reflection. It could just as easily apply today to a migrant camp in Lebanon or a bomb shelter in Ukraine.
God’s Quiet Time: Practicing the Presence of You
I begin with a story by musician Steve Bell, who for some time had been asking God the question, “Who are You?” Eventually the Lord answered—not in words but in an experience. Steve writes: