Ah yes, the universal panacea! The easy answer. The spiritual duct tape slapped on every crisis.Just close my eyes, whisper something vaguely hopeful, and watch the world magically fix itself. Poverty disappears. Crime vanishes. Corrupt leaders feel conviction. All from the safety of my recliner. I love the optics of compassion. Post it on social media—maybeContinueContinue reading “The Amazing and Totally Useless Power of “Thoughts and Prayers””
Tag Archives: hope-and-healing
FROM THE WEB: Lessons from Tolkien’s “Leaf by Niggle” – Word on Fire
While researching my literary anniversary piece on J. R. R. Tolkien’s “Leaf by Niggle,” I came across an essay that thoughtfully explores the spiritual shape of the story. The author describes it as “probably the closest thing in Tolkien’s corpus to an autobiographical allegory,” a claim that feels earned the longer you consider the tale.ContinueContinue reading “FROM THE WEB: Lessons from Tolkien’s “Leaf by Niggle” – Word on Fire”
This is a Song for Someone
This is New Year’s Eve, a time to celebrate endings and beginnings, but my heart’s just not in it. Maybe yours isn’t either. If you’re one of them, or if someone close to you is, maybe this piece will land like a small reminder that the light is still there. I know a handful ofContinueContinue reading “This is a Song for Someone”
Hello Winter, From a Longleaf Pine
I stand rooted in West Central Louisiana, a longleaf pine keeping quiet watch over the rhythm of the days. It is December first. The humans fuss over calendars, insisting winter has arrived. I shrug in silence. Frost may glint briefly across the yard. Ice settles now and then. Snow? Rare, fleeting, a story they tellContinueContinue reading “Hello Winter, From a Longleaf Pine”
FROM THE WEB: Lives Transformed Behind Prison Walls: Ligonier Inside – YouTube
“He brought me here, so that my light might shine.” One man says it in his own words best, in the seven-minute-investment of your time.