We’re all into meditation whether we know it or not, for our hearts are designed to constantly behold something. How can we develop this into a disciplined art for beholding our Creator?
Those Who Listen Thread the Labyrinth
In an hour of increasing confusion, you are a refreshing source of hope because you listen to the voice of the Shepherd. He sends you into the maze of life with everyone else, knowing you are key to many getting out of it—not because you have the answer but because the Answer has you.
What We Learn from Elijah’s Ravens
The ravens observed a man content with waiting, silence, and vulnerability, the very virtues despised by those who value control, and the very virtues whereby the Spirit moves, evil is disarmed, and nations are healed.
The Song of the Manchild Miracle
From the work The Jaguar Oracle: A lament with hope from a child who has lost his parents and is searching for them after washed ashore from a shipwreck. The animals name him Miracle. Paco is a “manchild,” as they call him, a son of “Man.” They listen to the child lament.
What We Learn from the Osprey
What can we learn from the osprey? They excel at calm, watchful silence. And when the prize they wait for surfaces, they turn, focus, and dive with absolute surrender. So can we.
The Last Laugh of Easter
Why is the high point of Easter the day before Sunday? Because what happened under the earth on that day spilled over to the surface of the earth the next day and continues to the ends of the earth this day.
Hot Lava
A poem about the children’s game called Hot Lava.
Three Signs of a Good Community
It is possible to find a collective work in progress called “community” who heal from their bruises and commune with the Bruised and Resurrected One. What are some indicators we may have found such a people on the journey toward Him?
The Other Side of Myself
A poem on being a third-culture person, also known as third-culture individual (TCI) or third-culture kid (TCK). These are souls whose growing-up years included an element significantly different than the culture of their parents or home nationality. I would like to thank my Iraqi acquaintances who grew up in the Netherlands for inspiring me to write this.
Three Signs of Your Calling
All are called to a unique part in the marathon relay across generations. Here are three signs that may suggest a vector where His deep love and your unique destiny cross over and form a calling.
The Artist
A poem about a painter contemplating his palette of colors and the canvas before him. In honor of artist Larry Dyke, 1936-2023.
Jim Alford on His 90th
A poem in honor of my father-in-law Jim Alford on his 90th birthday, October 2, 2023. Born in Waco, Jim lived and worked in Brownsville, Texas, near South Padre Island, for 83 years. He now resides in Weslaco with Glenda his wife of 63 years.
2024 and the Lost Christian
When we pick up the faith trail of Abraham “not knowing where we are going” (Heb 11:8), we do well. Nevertheless, how do we navigate a noisy atmosphere where it is difficult to see clearly?
On Prophecy: An Introduction
Here are my notes to an introductory teaching on prophecy.
On Daniel 10:1-11:1
We are exploring how Daniel leveraged his pain point to make margin for communication with the Lord in Daniel 10:1 to 11:1. I recommend reading this in the New Living Translation paired with another translation of your choice.
The Honeymoon
A poem about a honeymoon, in honor of Arash Amjadi and Michele Franco, to be wed in São Paolo on 11 Nov 23.
The Bells of Matins
A poem about an insomniac who hears the liturgy of predawn prayer, that is, Matins.
The Pocket Watch
A poem about a wind-up pocket watch.
Why I Search the Scriptures
I search the Scriptures to experience the Incarnation, not to justify my pre-existing doctrinal conclusions. Only in this way can I avoid my doctrine becoming a stack of sandbags from behind which I shoot critiques at those who do not agree. But if I read the Scriptures to experience the Incarnation, the Word of God becomes an encounter with the …
Passion, Purpose, and the Missing Peace
Why do we sometimes get burned when we do our best? The oxcart account offers clues course-correcting us away from the debris field of failed relationships into the communion of intimate friendship with Him.
The Gift of Saffron
A poem about saffron, a renowned seasoning and medicinal herb cultivated near Mashhad, Iran, and elsewhere. Women with gentle fingers and patient dispositions hand-harvest the crimson stamen ‘threads,’ the essence of which produces a calming effect on a person, enriches flavor, and soothes the skin. Worth thousands of dollars per kilo, it is the world’s costliest spice.
Tragedy, Therapy, and the Missing Peace
Every tragedy pushes upon us a choice: Are we hungry for God or hardened to Him? We wish this were not so. But since it is, how can we respond and reach the safe haven of healing we long for?
Faith in the Somehow
From feng-shui to phyiscs, all realms of knowledge reach a threshhold where the best explanation begins with “somehow.” How much more our faith.
The Year 2023 and the (S)meltdown of Hope
The global meltdown of hope continues. What gold will remain when the smelting is over? What (or who) will you be found hoping in when the furnace fumes clear?
The Sacrament of the Present Moment: A Souk Story
We reach the Marrakesh bazaar as it awakens. Families huddle in their shops around fresh bread and scalding tea, steam aglow with sunrise. Aromas of mint and cumin compete with odors of freshly washed concrete. Carts (and those pushing them) groan under loads. Peddlers shine their wares with week-old cloths made heavy with the oils of their owners. Crowds grow …
Your Weakness Saves You, Part 2
Weakness (if we let it) can drive us through the crowd of cares and distractions until we — like the hemorrhage-weakened woman in the Capernaum throng — reach the place of the One who knows us. We feel the encounter. Weakness is turned to strength.
Your Weakness Saves You, Part 1
What is the secret strength of weakness? If we consider our unlikely ally long enough, we may grasp with new wonder the treasure that has grasped us.
Disappointment & The Parable of the Waterfall
“Life can be counted on to provide all the pain that any of us might need,” someone has said.1 The key, therefore, is not outmaneuvering pain, but learning how to suffer through it well. This is not always our natural response, but it can become so. We can grow. We can learn to take pains to depart from the natural …
Is Holding onto the Cliff Face Success?
We understandably ask, “Who won the Super Bowl?” if we didn’t watch the final dramatic minutes, but we seldom ask “Who persevered?” It is the same question with possibly a more savory answer. How so? Let’s begin by acknowledging that perseverance is not something most of us enjoy, especially in our age. Here is a clue as to why. Every age of …
Do We Do Dissent Well?
Good-hearted leaders keep good-hearted dissenters on their team. They intuitively know that the inconvenience of counterbalancing counsel is far better than the catastrophe of creating an echo chamber of yes men. The key — as in anything — is that one is good-hearted. It means we don’t go after motives, we go after an honest exploration of the truth together. …
Vision and Our Need for New Lenses
The more compelling the vision, the harder it can be to see immediate needs of those around you. That’s why we’re better together. We help one another see what we can’t see ourselves. Then authentic love can grow. In The Jaguar Oracle series, Tripp is a visionary operating a vast, high-tech ranch in South Texas called Eden’s Bend, where his entrepreneurial …
Motives, Mysteries, and Leaders
The original sin of the human race was a misreading of Another’s motives, and it has gotten worse ever since. Why is that? Why does this condition continue to hinder harmony, health, and progress? The problem is we cannot see motives. We can only see actions. We can only see — to use a more picturesque phrase — the fruit of the garden of the other.
Hold onto Your Thread in the Tangle
Your own tale is connected to everyone else’s. Don’t hold back and be unfaithful to us and to the One who works together for good each knot, warp, and weft of your life.
Humility and Creative Outcomes
Humility and truth are good things, but humility is better. Here is why.
Five Books for Your Winter
When love grows cold in your heart or upon the earth, here are five recommended reads for your winter, warm fires to refresh you from the hardships of your journey.
The Prophecy of Plod the Horse
Creation groans for revelation and renewal in the tales of The Jaguar Oracle series. In Book 2, Plod, a retired, weary work horse, finds himself suddenly inspired as the wind blows over him before a dying pond where the footprints of South Texas coastal birds bear testimony of thirst. Here is the prophetic vision shown to him about horses.
Ode to the Last Jaguar
The animals of my tale do not know they are being written about. They pause my plot line often, laying aside my need for efficiency and control. This is because they have a culture of poetry, prayer, and storytelling that can only take place by making space for reflection.
Here is a sample of one of the twenty-six original poems in The Trail to the Lonely Tree, Book 1 of the Jaguar Oracle (2nd edition).
Pre-order on Amazon for the NOVEMBER 1st digital release. Available in paperback now!
Humility and Geography
Humility is a question of geography. It has to do with where you are seated. Are others given the space due them, or do you remain the imagined center? Consider this example of a young lady and elderly gentleman on the metro.
Honesty and the Risks We Take
Honesty is in conflict with our need to feel in control. This is because honesty empowers others to respond in ways we do not want them to. It also might reveal we are not enough of the thing others prefer us to be. But if we are to align with the next world and if we are to live in harmony with ourselves, we must risk honesty. The reward is worth it, the loss light and momentary in light of eternity.
Why You Should Write
We write in order to explore the truth, recover what we’ve forgotten, and discover lost things. This is why even simple, private journal entries are good for us — and those who come after us.
For Sam on His Graduation Day
In celebration of Samuel Benjamin Mahler’s graduation from high school, Friday, 14 May 2021. A blessing from his parents. Sam is the fifth and final child of Kurt and Karen Mahler, who are rich with three daughters, two sons, two sons-in-law, and a grandson. Sam is just as at home under the hood of a car as he is with a guitar. He is cool to little tikes and a comfort to the aged. We are proud of him as he contemplates a gap year after high school to invest in the nations.
The Ivy of Tbilisi
Or, The Song of the City Ivy
A reflection while contemplating the ivy upon the buildings of Tbilisi, Georgia, April 2021
The Sculptor
An ode to renowned Lebanese sculptor Elias el-Melky, who passed on 26 April 21, age 98. A reflection on the man according to the photo of him featured courtesy of his daughter Noel Melky Helou.
Fairuz in the Morning
A tribute to the people of Lebanon.
The Power of Little by Little
In a world that demands we make a big impact and a great first impression, the kingdom of heaven is discovered in the unimpressive, day-to-day smallness of things.
Acceptance: the Unexpected Virtue
Acceptance is more than admitting the facts at hand. It is the meeting point with the Author of our faith.
Our First Calling is to Listen
We are born into a labyrinth where the clues on the walls are mixed with lures that get us lost. Like the legend of Theseus and the minotaur, the danger is far greater than just wasting time. Going through the labyrinth is a life-or-death affair. In the same way Theseus traced his steps through the maze with a line of thread, we also have a line by which to thread the maze of possibilities before us: by listening our way through them.
The Aroma of Prayer
What do sweet smells have to do with prayer? Everything. Incense imagery reveals the relevance of our prayers and the value of our lives to the One who halts heaven to hear us.
How to Pray for the Wicked
Heaven’s Plan A is that they come to their senses and make courageous choices. If you’re praying Plan A for them, this leads to creative options besides calling down fire. What are those options?
Rejection and Honey from the Rock
Rejection is like the empty mouth of a cave. But at that mouth we find a resource we can plunder that will brighten our eyes. What is it?
Where We Are Headed
We are headed for a world where we will need more courage than we have ever needed. But heaven will match that courage with three invaluable resources. Read about them here.
The Three Heavens
If we are going to discern what is going on around us correctly, we need to recover a supernatural worldview. Not a superstitious worldview; not a suspicious worldview; but a worldview recognizing that the invisible realms influence the visible one.
Weakness Waters the Garden
I had many mentors in Afghanistan, but one of the best was a broken piece of pottery. How could a shard share its wisdom? Let’s pick it up, look, and listen.
Growing Up until We Are Little Children
The goal of life is to grow up until we become little children. But we’re too suspicious to trust at that level. What do we need to discover at the basement level to recover that trust?
Hope & Hairdressers: What It Means to Wait on the Lord
Waiting on the Lord does not mean biding time; it means being braided in.
What Does It Mean To Walk by Faith?
Faith means walking one step ahead of your understanding, trusting the One your reasoning abilities can lean on.
Faith is a lack of options, eliminating all possibilities but the one necessary thing the Lord is doing at any given point in time in your life. Your role is to align with what He is doing.
Hurt by Church: “I Received These Wounds in the House of My Friends”
Sometimes it is easier to forgive Taliban than church members. Why? The wrestle to forgive reveals a prize worth discovering.
Stormproof Compass for the Chaos
We are in a storm we did not sign up for with a boatload of people we did not ask for. Now what? Is there anyone on board with a compass? Anyone we can look to for a model on how to respond?
Rest Leads to Revelation
We are banking on a better return than busy-ness gives. We are believing a better hope which the bully of unfinished business shall not be permitted to steal.
Worst-Case Scenario Faith
The two greatest Christian poets in Western Civilization were disillusioned politicians. Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) and John Milton (1608-1674) gave the prime of their lives to the political causes of their days but ended up on the losing side. How did they respond? With very long poems about one short word: “yet.”
Prayer, Compost, and Praying without Ceasing
If you understand compost, you understand prayer. Let’s unpack the parallels.
Seven Questions to Ask for Testing a Spiritual Message
Like a swarm of bees, there are cloud of messages asserting a revelation from God. How can we acquire the honey without getting stung?
Nine Questions to Ask When You Dream a Dream
Although not all dreams are “from God” in the sense that He authored all of them, all dreams can be taken to God; for they can be redeemed as an invitation to seek Him.
Pray Like Mr. Rogers
In the film Mr. Rogers, we watch him intercede for those he knows. How does he pray for them? He names their names. Slowly he savors the speaking of each name as if it were a summer pear ripe with prophetic promises, a gentle firstfruits proclamation of all that is to come. And that’s it. That’s all he does. He …
Sostis
A poem honoring the hermit of Santorini, one Sostis, who has lived on the isle of Nea Kameni in the Santorini archipelago of the Aegean Sea since the 1980s.
Lament of Duke Ulrich
A poem exploring the heart of an historical incident when, in 1519, Duke Ulrich of Württemberg hid in the Fog Cave in southern Germany to escape death, assisted by a farmer.
Ode To the Moon
O moon you have moved me from before I Knew my right hand from my left, filling eyes With glow before I know a thought to think About what I behold before your light Transforming all things to another world Where all is clothed with living secrets viewed In silent air that carries them from one To another until all …
Rembrandt Invites You Into His Storm
What message to we find hidden in the only seascape Rembrandt painted?
Description of a Larry Dyke Painting
An ekphrastic poem is one attempting to convert a work of art or artisanship into a vivid verbal description. This poem describes a scenic work by Friendswood artist Larry Dyke, “Majestic Vision I”, painted in 1995.
Hopkins Gives the Windhover a Voice
Hopkins’ heart is stirred by the extravagant love gift of a single bird. It leads to greater awe: if noble things like this inspire wonder, how much more the common things, as common as the shine of plow-split earth and the glow of gashed open embers. We too, like Hopkins, are wooed by the Creator through the art he created. And we, like Hopkins, are to give it all a voice: a dialogue with the One through whom all things are made.
Three Servants on Your Day Off
You need three servants to ensure a good day off: rest, refreshment, and reflection. Your heavenly Father knows you need them, for you are both clay and treasure, both biology and mystery: precious to Him.
To My Son Daniel on His Graduation Day
Written on the occasion of his high school graduation day. I love you, son.
Ode to Kaija-Liisa
Written on the occasion of the news of the assassination of friends Kaija-Liisa Martin and Seija Järvenpää on 24 July 14 by men on a motorcycle as they taxied to work in Herat, Afghanistan. (Their first names are pronounced “kaya lisa” and “sae-ya”.) Kaija Liisa had served in Afghanistan since 1998 as a community developer, a role that had included …
I Will Follow Tom
On hearing the news of the murder of one of my leaders and mentors, optometrist Tom Little, in Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan, after a medical expedition to Nuristan. Tom had given thirty-seven years of service to the Afghan people, risking his life to provide life when others had evacuated the chaos of war. He and his wife, with their three daughters, …
The Path of Dan
In contemplation of the murder of one of my mentors, community development coordinator Dan Terry, in Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan, after a medical expedition to Nuristan. He and his wife, with their three daughters, served across political, ethnic, and religious boundary lines through a monarchy, a dictatorship, two Communist coups, a Soviet invasion, a mujahedeen civil war, the Taliban, and the current …
To My Daughter Becca on Her Graduation Day
You are a candle lighting the darkness You are perfume changing the atmosphere You are confident and unashamed to Offer the poor and the stranger silver Trays of healing cordials and living bread Your story is only in the middle— Really, it has just begun; title page Revealing how every disappointment Every displacement and every loss are Careful threads at …
Spirit and Truth
Flat deck upon the flow of currents sub Marine transfixed between behemoth’s lair Below and gull bird paradise above A face supporting fuselages sleek But folded, clipped, and crowded to the edge With tails and tips suspended ‘bove the sheer And empty drop: row on row exposure To wave-driving winds and threat’ning black banks But cabled through it all that …
On Beauty
On we go into the dark winding park Until finding there a flower strange in Color and delight, aroma wide and Deep that tells a story inviting me Into its great dance that went on before I was, and will dance after I will be. Strange to see how this fair bloom speaks wonders Without a word, nor does she …
Ode to Fred Mahler
My father Frederick Ernest Mahler, born 17 June 1934, died on 12 December 2016 due to multiple complications including emphysema and diseases in his feet. He was a war veteran, military historian, camper, collector, and sales and marketing representative for Mobil Oil Corp. He loved his family. Here is a poem in his honor. And he …
Worship and the Conversion of Creation
Creation is mute. We give it a voice. Creation expresses not only how wise God is, but how highly He values us. It is a lavish love gift. And we, who are made in His image, are uniquely qualified to articulate those things. For we are the central intersection of the visible and invisible worlds, the place where the biological and the …
Music and the Holy Spirit
Heaven operates in the fullness of all things to which the good of creation testifies, including good music. But music is more than an accent decor to the halls of eternity. It is within the very nature of the Spirit who brooded over creation in the first place. The Holy Spirit–that is, the Spirit of God–is not an abstract, but …
360 Gratitude, Part 3: Upgrading Our Reality Check
The giver, the gift, and the receiver: this is a basic three-point reality. When we forget the giver, the gift becomes an idol. When we forget the gift, we cease to see how generous He is and how much He values us. When we forget to be receivers, we assume an imagined position at the center. Life becomes “up to us” …
360 Gratitude, Part 2: Thanksgiving and the Art of War
Life is war. It is not only that, but it is that. In a world where many things attempt by force or by fraud to enslave us, giving thanks disarms the power thereof. By acknowledging the Creator as the source of all things we triangulate reality correctly–the Giver, the Gift, and the Receiver– and thereby assume the high ground of the warfare. …
360 Gratitude, Part 1: The Perspective of Heaven
Giving thanks is not a sentiment. It is a choice. By doing so, we acknowledge three of many things: (1) It is the perspective of Heaven. (2) It is a spiritual sword. (3) It is a return to reality. When Apostle Paul commands us to “be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:20), he is calling for an alignment between what is …
Why Weakness?
Weakness is a creative, committed delivery boy. He gives us unwanted gifts that limit our abilities. The gifts are space makers, creating a gap between us and our goals, a gap that only grace can fill. Weakness reveals our assumptions, prevents our pride, and perfects our strength. We are prone to assume that what we want is best accomplished through …
Why Suffering?
Here are three reasons that begin to explore the answer: solidarity, sanctification, and supplication. Solidarity: by suffering we come in contact with that which is common to all mankind. Our personal pain grants us legitimacy to look into the eyes of the fellow sufferer. It gives us authority to speak the word of comfort deep enough to matter and credible enough to strengthen. …
Prayer for Ashley
In response to the news of a friend who is facing the seriousness of her disease and hoping against hope for the healing available in Jesus: Father in heaven Father of Ashley Father redeeming Father of lights Never rejecting Always receiving Birthing and naming Sunrise and nights: Battle for Ashley Sister beloved Ashley in heaven Ashley on earth— One in …
Are You in Love?
If self-giving love is at the heart of the universe–if a person is there, not a mathematical equation or an abstract mix of good and evil–then we have a solid starting block from which to trust. If God is good–so good that He can creatively capitalize on evil and not withdraw from it as He rolls up His sleeves and …
When Offended
The issue is not so much who is more right than whom. The issue is who is more in love with the Incarnate Word. For it is out of the wellspring of this self-giving love that we find a secret better than the joy of being vindicated. It is the joy of being understood by the One who sees us. …
Friendship, Glory, and Authority
What three things do we know we shall inherit in the age to come?
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