In Gennesaret

They seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right. Ouch. Thus sayeth the Lord through Isaiah in chapter 58. He’s raking Israel over the coals for their false religion. They put on their righteous faces and do all the “right things”. In particular, here, fasting is the hot topic. “Why have we fasted and you have not seen it?” the people are asking. Why aren’t you paying attention to us when we’re such good, religious people? But the Lord lays to rest their righteous notions. They aren’t good people. “Is this the kind of fast I have chosen?” he asks. Just a day for you to look and act all humble and show off your righteousness? But in the same breath, you take advantage of people and quarrel and fight? You’re missing the point here, folks. THIS is what I have in mind for your “fasting”, he tells them: To loose the chains of injustice                And untie the cords of the yoke,...

Fourteen years ago, a couple of dudes who were frustrated at the cost of razors got this wild idea to start a business shipping monthly supplies of shaving products to men in their homes. They ended up selling the business five years later for a billion dollars. That's billion. With a "B". We love those stories, don’t we? The big risk that paid off. Netflix moving from DVD rentals to streaming services and shifting the paradigm entirely. The two Steves starting Apple in their garage – and then Apple changing the world with a phone that could browse the internet. But for every success story, you know there have to be dozens of failures – big risks that did NOT pay off. And probably a lot of them were great ideas! But for whatever reason, they just didn’t take off like the iphone and streaming and razors in your mailbox every month. I was reminded of this recently thinking of the adventures my youngest has had living in Atlanta. She has gotten involved with a few ventur...

Jonah was a pretty sorry excuse for a prophet, y’all. That man failed in so many ways. I mean, let’s take a look at that story in the Old Testament book that bears his name. From what we read there in the first few verses, I think it’s a safe assumption that Jonah was someone with a significant relationship with God – significant enough that God used him to speak to others because it is stated rather matter-of-factly that God told Jonah to go deliver a message to the Ninevites, as if this was not an unusual exchange between them. Apparently, the man was familiar enough with God’s voice to recognize it when he heard it. But he didn’t go. And it’s not like he just sat at home and ignored that familiar voice; he ran away . He purposefully moved in the opposition direction because, as he tells the Lord later, he didn’t want to give his enemies a chance to receive mercy from God. Thus the infamous fish story that you can read in chapters 1 and 2. Do you notice, by the way, that when J...

I’ve been considering for a couple days whether I should submit my latest play for publication. I have a couple of plays published already, which is kind of cool. They don’t get produced much, so I get very little income from that, unfortunately. I am happy that the scripts are out there getting used rather than sitting in silence on my laptop. But still – a bit more income would be very much appreciated right now. There is a fantastic playwright in Austin named Don Zolidis. I’m familiar with him because my theater won a prize at a conference a few years ago, and he wrote a play for us, which I ended up directing. He’s an amazing playwright. He has hundreds of plays out there that are very popular and performed all over the world. I follow him on Facebook, so I always hear about his latest publication and his many successes. And I get a bit jealous. I mean, the man deserves his success – he’s incredibly talented and works very hard. But you know, I think what I write is pretty goo...

I just finished watching a series called Inventing Anna . Who’s heard of that one? Fascinating story – based on the real-life drama of a young woman who convinced people she was a German heiress and conned friends and banks and such out of thousands and thousands of dollars. This woman was staying in the most expensive hotels . . . eating at the best restaurants . . . wearing top quality designer clothes . . . attending the most exclusive of social events . . . traveling all around the world, flying first class. And somehow managed to do it all without paying for any of it. The lifestyle she was living was absolutely crazy. And even crazier, I realized as I watched that I didn’t find it appealing in the least. I mean, NOT AT ALL. I’ve thought the same thing watching some episodes of Rich Kids Go Skint , a British reality show where spoiled young adults raised in ridiculous wealth spend a weekend with a family “living on the breadline.” They start each episode giving you a taste...

Many, many years ago, I had an online conversation about abortion with an old high school friend. She had worked with George Tiller, a well-known abortion doctor in our hometown who was murdered by an anti-abortion extremist, so this was a subject of passion for her. To her credit, she initiated the exchange; she’d seen posts I’d made about my pro-life beliefs, believed I was honest and thoughtful about those beliefs (which I took as a great compliment), and wanted a genuine discussion with “the other side”. It was a fascinating conversation . . . mainly because of how much we found we agreed on. Yes, folks – when it came right down to it, we agreed on so much! We pondered together why each of our respective camps in this debate ended up so far in the extreme. She blamed it on that fear that giving an inch would sacrifice a mile. For example, even though she (and many of her colleagues) might personally have been okay with abortions only being allowed very early in a pregnancy, they...

I saw a PA in my doctor’s office a few weeks ago about pain in my arm. He said it’s “texter’s elbow” (once more commonly known as “tennis elbow”) and prescribed me a whole bunch of meds and exercises and a band to wear on my arm, and he gave me his absolute assurance that this would go away. “It always does,” he said. Many of my friends have had the same malady and shared their own doctor’s advice – different exercises and massages and medicinal cocktails. "This made mine go away." "This took care of my pain immediately." But I was back at the doctor’s office last week because my arm was still hurting. This time, I saw a different PA . . . and he had a different story. Some of those exercises may help; some of them make it worse. If the band seems to be doing some good, okay; if not, stop wearing it. And actually, this pain may come and go for months; don’t expect it to go away completely for good. Sigh. I also saw a different doctor last week at Dr. Drake’s S...

Yesterday was Easter. And I started the day by writing in my prayer journal a thank you to Jesus for his death and resurrection to save me. And then I had a check in my spirit . . . and I added, “To save us .” I’ve been reading this book: Generations by Jean M. Twenge. It’s 500+ pages of the most fascinating data I’ve read in years. All this information about generations in America: Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents. All backed by tons of research, and all presented in a very engaging manner. (And no, I’m not getting any financial compensation for promoting the book, but you should still read it.)  But one of the big picture trends it talks about is how America has become more and more individualistic. Twenge says, “American culture began the 1960s as a collectivistic culture (focused on social rules and group harmony) and ended it as an individualistic one (focused on the needs of the self and thus often rejecting traditional rules). Each subsequent decade c...

Between travels and my busy schedule recently, I haven’t been able to get to the gym for my exercise classes. So, this weekend, I made a point of forcing myself out of the house a couple times a day to walk the wooded paths nearby – I need the exercise, the fresh air, the vitamin D, and the break from my computer screen. And as I hiked, I was inspired again by the trees. I’ve written about the trees on these trails, I’m sure. They are SO lovely. I suspect if you flew in a helicopter above this area, you would see a sea of green – healthy, leafy branches reaching to the sun for nourishment. But the view from below is quite different. From below, you have to strain a bit to see the green growth at the top. What you are surrounded by from below are the old dead branches. See the picture here? Imagine trees growing to two or three times this size and surrounding you as you walk. They are beautiful and cozy . . . and thought-provoking. Y’all, these trees. They are us . We all have...

I had the most disturbing dream last week. I was stopping for something at my theater (although the building wasn’t really my theater, even though in my dream it was supposed to be my theater – you know how that is), and there was a gang of thuggish-looking punks hanging out on the front lawn. They seemed to be ignoring me, so I went in and out a few times doing whatever it was I needed to do. But on my final trip outside, I saw that the gang was gone – as was my car with my purse and phone inside. I can’t find a word strong enough to describe my feelings in that moment. That may seem silly; it was just a dream. But oh, people . . .  The panic – the complete, utter panic . I couldn’t call anyone for help; I didn’t have my phone. And even if I went to a business and borrowed a phone, I couldn’t remember anyone’s number – they are all saved on my phone. I couldn’t get home; I didn’t have a car, I didn’t have a phone to call a friend or an Uber, and I had no credit card to pay ...

I just heard a story about Einstein. Apparently, when he was walking home from work, he would so often get completely lost in thought and walk by his house altogether that his wife started standing outside to watch for him. In fact, one time, the police had to bring him home. I find this SO comforting. Because the man was a genius, y’all. He changed the world. And he still did silly things like that. It is the grace of God that I get from one place to another in my car every day without incident. It’s become a conditioned response, I believe: like Pavlov’s dog salivating at the ringing of a bell, when I get in the seat of my car and turn the key, my brain automatically begins to travel to distant lands. Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. I’m mostly thinking about what I need to do today . . . and who I need to talk to . . . and plotting out those conversations . . . and remembering other things to mention when I talk to them . . . like the season finale of Severance last...

I’m not always sure what to do with the apostle Paul. The man had some chutzpah. Example? Acts 16, which I was listening to the other evening. After he and Silas sang in prison all night and then were told they could leave, he got a bit uppity. “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out .” Well , then. It reminded me of when he was annoyed at people in the Galatian church wrongly insisting that gentile converts needed to be circumcised. “As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!” I mean, dude . . . After reading the scripture lesson in Sunday School yesterday morning (the end of Philippians 3), our teachers paused to ask if we had any initial reaction to the passage. And my reaction? Paul sounds arrogant. Maybe the original tone and intent doesn’t come across well in our translations, bu...

Thursday morning was foggy here in my neighborhood. Seriously foggy. Very possibly the foggiest weather I’ve ever experienced. When I pulled out of my garage at 7am for the 25-minute drive to school, I could hardly see my garage door closing from the end of the driveway. It was kinda scary, frankly. I drove slowly and carefully through my neighborhood and along the side roads I use to avoid the 1604/I-10 interchange that is crazy busy at that time of the morning. And then suddenly, just as I pulled up to a red light before driving under I-10 . . . there was no fog. None. It was just GONE. I could see the stoplight, the cloudy sky above me, and the shopping center on the other side of the highway in front of me. It was a bit of a jolt to suddenly have the world visible around me again. I turned and pulled onto I-10 going north, still in wonder at it all. Along the way to Boerne, a few small patches of fog flew in and out. I continued to drive cautiously, as did everyone around me,...

I’ve been hearing recently about a new trend: sober vacations. People are intentionally planning trips that are devoid of any alcoholic content. Whole industries are growing around this concept – travel agencies, resorts, cruises. This apparently follows on the heels of other similar trends – namely, Sober October and Dry January. It seems that the former began in the U.K. as a fundraiser for cancer research. On the other hand, Dry January just sounds like a health thing. Try not drinking any alcohol for a month and see what the health benefits are. And people found the benefits were plentiful and started telling everyone about it. And my reaction was, Uhhh . . . what? Is this really news? ALL my months are dry and sober -- at least most of them. I very rarely drink alcohol. Mainly because nobody drank in my house growing up, and my college roommate abstained because of her alcoholic father (and I hung with her in support), so I just never developed a real taste for the stuff – an...

I know a bit of Spanish. Un poquito. So when I volunteered to tutor a young Mexican lady in English a couple decades ago, I wasn’t sure how well that was going to go. But it did go well – mainly because Blanca was bright and motivated. For our second lesson, we met at a grocery store. With a notebook in hand, she pointed at things, and I named each item in English. She learned far more on her own than she did from me; I was merely an available person for intentional conversation. And for the answering of questions . . . like this question that she asked me one day: “What means, ‘Ado tiso?’” Ado tiso . . . hmm . . . I asked her to give me a situation where she heard this phrase. She described a couple scenarios and repeated the phrase with a strong lilt, trying to mimic the people she heard. “Ah-doh TEE-so!” I was genuinely puzzled for quite a while. But then it hit me. She was trying to say, “I don’t think so.” That became an inside joke in my home for quite a while. “Can I h...

This photo – I don’t know if it speaks to any of you. It was hard to capture the image effectively. This was the view above me while I was sitting at my outdoor table one afternoon during the Christmas break. I had been reading, and when I finished a chapter, I set the book down and laid my head back to look around. It was beautiful. The colors! Can you see how blue that sky is? It’s a remarkable blue . . . a soft, gentle, clear blue. In the winter in Iowa, I would walk my daughter to the bus stop with snow on the ground all around us and notice that the sky was as white as the snow. I remember thinking that the world looked like an empty coloring book. Not in Texas. Look at that blue, blue sky in December. And the leaves. The green! Not all the trees around me have green leaves on them in the winter, but this big, beautiful live oak that I sit under in the backyard does, even in December. And the contrast of those green leaves against that blue sky with the sun shining down . . ...

Create in me a clean heart . . . I don’t remember where this verse popped up over the holidays, but it has been on my mind ever since. And with it comes the old worship chorus – specifically Keith Green’s live rendition because YouTube Music keeps bringing it around again in my playlist in the car. So, join me in a bit of Bible study here, and feel free to sing along. Create in me a clean heart, ohhh God . . . A clean heart . . . what makes my heart unclean? We modern folk hear the word and think of plain old dirtiness, requiring Lysol and a scrub brush, but I’m not sure that’s what we’re talking about. Lepers in biblical times were called unclean. So, there seems to be a connotation of disease here. And those lepers had to keep away from others because their disease was contagious. So maybe we’re even talking about something that somebody else could catch if they were too close to me? That’s sobering. When I look this passage up in the Blue Letter Bible online ( love that r...

A couple weeks ago, I mentioned on Facebook that I was thinking about watching all the Star Wars movies. I saw the first one in the theater in 1977, but I never saw the others. FB friends wanted to hear my reactions – so here you are: Episode 4 – A New Hope (? When did it get that title?) - How did I sit through this and understand it when I was nine? I don’t think I did understand it. I’m not sure I really understood it all at 56. - I was bored through the first half. Bored enough that I had to watch it again because in the second half I got into it and wondered what I missed in the first half. - So, honestly, the effects are good enough even fifty years later to not be a big distraction . . . and that’s pretty amazing. I bet they blew people away at the time. - It’s unfortunate how much this has been parodied. I feel like I’m watching a spoof. “Use the force, Luke.” I almost laughed at that. It’s hard to take it seriously sometimes. I have to keep reminding myself that thi...