I hate the traffic snarls while driving north on I-5 toward LA where construction crews are widening the freeway. But this week the slowdown helped me see something I would have missed. The prior evening, I’d had dinner with another sixty-something couple. The conversation shifted to retirement, and they were surprised to learn that I’m … Continue reading Labor & Life: A Meditation

I keep getting fresh reminders that I am now fully and irrevocably "in my 60's." Usually it's something related to my physical health. For instance, when I had a detached retina recently, a number of caring friends asked me how this had happened.  I found it impossible not to form a sentence that referred to … Continue reading What Makes a Life?

It's not the right time to be bringing up another humanitarian crisis. I can't be seen as the constant bearer of bad news. People won't want to open my emails or take my calls.And frankly, I'm tired and overwhelmed myself. Maybe the rest of the world can deal with this new famine in East Africa; … Continue reading It’s Not the Right Time for a Crisis

Good Friday is for me the most meaningful “holy day” of the year. Solemnity, quietude, even an appreciation for beauty are all mixed together. It’s easy to be afraid of the day, thinking it’s intended to be morbid or self-mortifying. And I suppose some prefer it that way. Certainly, I make it a point to … Continue reading Into Your Courts I Come

Don’t you hate it when you run across something you’ve written and realize you still need to learn the lesson all over again?  That was exactly my experience yesterday. For Holy Week leading to Easter, I intended to send a past meditation each day—perhaps as penance for my dearth of new entries. What thwarted my … Continue reading Involuntary Sacrifices

Last week, I spoke with a long-time supporter who has been faithfully giving to Kingdom causes for many years. As she told me about a major outreach effort in her area, I sensed a real joy in her. The conversation reminded me of something I’ve been thinking about lately as I work on a book … Continue reading Turning Our Thanks into Giving

The news reports following Hurricane Matthew have saddened and disturbed me. As they say, "all news is local news," I guess.  The reports on national news always seem to start with how close the hurricane is to the USA and what preparations Americans are making to get ready.  News from the devastation in Haiti, or … Continue reading All News is God News

Today marks my 35th spiritual birthday, so I was especially eager to attend church. It was one of those services when the Anglican lectionary was prophetic. A preacher could scour the entire Bible for the most appropriate passage for current events and would do no better than one scheduled decades and decades ago for today … Continue reading Ignoring the Good Samaritan

An allegory: Once upon a time, there was a World Vision Area Development Program (ADP).  And in that ADP there was a lovely latrine, which World Vision had taught the community to construct at a school.  This latrine was even called a "VIP Latrine" (meaning ventilated improved pit latrine).  The latrine had several private enclosures, for … Continue reading Once Upon A Path

Twenty-five years ago today, on May 17, 1991, two World Vision leaders were gunned down on the streets of Lima, Peru as they stepped from their vehicle to enter the national office that morning. Though the crime was never prosecuted, all evidence pointed to the then-notorious guerrilla group, Sendero Luminoso, or Shining Path.It was a … Continue reading Workers, Not Master Builders