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Hiding Under His Bed, Reading “A Wrinkle in Time”

I watch the boy from where I am, way up above the trees. It is a summer night, so even though it’s not completely dark yet, the house is quiet.

A long lane lays out a path, straight as the spine of a book, from a paved back road to the heart of the farm. It passes six fruit trees – the boy’s friend will fall from the highest branch of the pear tree the following autumn, scraping his back. The two will run inside, both crying, one from fear, the other from branches that tried to catch him but couldn’t. The boy’s friend’s mother will snap an aloe leaf in half, rub the sticky juice on his bleeding back.

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How to Discuss “Love Wins” Without Screaming Like Children

Two random thoughts and a question for you on this dreary Saturday in Paradise, Pennsylvania:

1) My new blog is brought to you by Jeff Burkholder. Have a look around. Then check out Jeff’s various comics: Zoidland, The Social Life of Frank and Linh, and The Ouro Brothers and the Neverending Tour.

2) I’m two days into my weekend of being a single-parent while Maile enjoys herself at the beach. Scorecard: Emergency Room Visits – 0; Frozen Pizzas Eaten – 2; Kids’ Movies Watched – 4; Baths Taken – 3

3) Tomorrow is the first day of the book discussion I’m leading at church on “Love Wins.” Today’s question is, “What ground rules need to be in place to ensure this remains a positive, learning experience about what God and the Bible say about heaven and hell?”

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The Danger of New Beginnings

The wooded walking pathphoto © 2007 Brad Gocken | more info (via: Wylio)
How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing. A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days. – Annie Dillard, “The Writing Life”

The other day I sent out a message on Twitter:

“If you are always starting new things, when will you finish the story you were created to write?”

I was actually writing this to no one but myself. I have this wonderful habit of starting new stories and never finishing them. My computer is riddled with innumerable Chapter Ones and characters waiting to be developed. It’s like opening a refrigerator and finding a dozen plates of food, partially eaten, wrapped protectively in plastic wrap.

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Confessions of a Christian School Ex-Clone

Crossphoto © 2004 Phil Whitehouse | more info (via: Wylio)
One of the coolest things about Twitter is that I’ve made some great new friends, people I never otherwise would have met. But I’ve also connected with old friends. One such person is Nean Burkholder, a girl I met at Messiah College. When she sent me this post, I knew it would be one that you guys would enjoy.

I recently watched the movie “Saved!” with a friend. While he laughed at the ridiculous portrayal on the screen and couldn’t really imagine it as anything but fiction, I sat there in fascinated horror as my high school was depicted on the screen. This surreal caricature was funny to me too, but very differently – in the way that one grows up, looks back on one’s life, and is “embarrassed” by silly things that once seemed “normal.”

I’ve seen those kids, taught those kids, and I was one of those kids. Deluded into making choices based on arbitrary rules and not on reasoning skills. Censored and sheltered from anything that contradicts the established religious philosophies and values.

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The Best Blogs of April…and the Winner is…

Wow! You guys wrote some incredible posts last month. Thanks for taking the time to comment last week and let the rest of us know about the most-read posts on your blog during the month of April.

Sorry for the delay in getting this post up – I had planned on doing it yesterday, but Monday kind of jumped up on me. As always, I enjoyed reading every single one of them. Here are the posts that got my attention, including my favorite one, the writer of which will receive a $50 gift card:

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