Election Day 2016 was a 27 hour day for me. I spent most of the day in the air and in airports. I was traveling from Kingston, Ontario, through three time zones, to San Diego, California, to speak at the…
What if we had a different kind of conversation? That's what I've been wondering. I watched a good bit of the hearings a couple of Thursdays ago, when Dr. Christine Blasey-Ford and then Supreme Court Justice nominee, Brett Kavanaugh both…
Several members of my congregation are in the midst of a three day training, learning to become facilitators of restorative practices and cultivators of a restorative culture in our church. We are being taught by licensed trainers from the International…
There's something about faces. A week and a half ago, Twelve blogger, Debra Rienstra, posted her reflection on the story of Katie Stubblefield, the youngest ever face transplant recipient and the subject of a recent National Geographic feature. I let…
"But what if you die, and we're not with you?" My nearly 12-year-old daughter asked me this last week as we looked ahead to the beginning of my doctoral studies and anticipated the week that I would be spending away…
A friend of mine died by suicide a few weeks ago. The image she used when she talked about God was that of a Weaver, forever at the loom. As I searched scripture in preparation for her funeral, I found…
A couple of months ago, I co-taught a preaching seminar in the Rocky Mountains with fellow Twelver, Scott Hoezee, and superstar preaching colleague, Peter Jonker. On one of the days, I was asked to speak for 30 minutes on any…
The light turns green. I step into the crosswalk at River Avenue and 16th Street in downtown Holland, Michigan and as I do, a strange and slow collision between a van and a bicycle happens right in front of me.…
20km. Easy pace. One day of each week of my distance-cycling training schedule last summer recommended this – a 20 km ride at an easy pace. These ‘easy pace’ days were to be balanced with 4 days/week at a normal…
We remember Adam, whose sons did not get along—their rivalry leading to death. God, who is no stranger to conflict, may we take all our rivalries to the cross. We remember Abraham, who was asked to place his son on…
