A Pilgrim's Journal

Wonder through the eyes of a child On one of many recent short stroller walks after dinner, I watched as my daughter Sophia noticed, for the umpteenth time, a bunny lying quietly in the grass of a neighbor’s yard. Upon this discovery, her little one-year old body trembled with excitement

In a straightforward list of exhortations for good Christ-following living, the apostle Paul gives this little nugget: Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. (Romans 12:15) What could be simpler? Piece of cake, right? Be happy with the happy, sad with the sad. I think not. My

I just had my oldest son’s four children over for a “sleepover at Grandpa’s house.”  Although it was less than 24 hours together (not a big deal, right?), it was a wonderful and satisfying 24 hours, huddled up with my grandchildren on a cold Saturday night.  We made s’mores over

Reflections on disorientation A few weeks ago I stopped for gas on my way out of town with my wife. I dropped her off at a coffee shop around the corner first, so she could get some lattés, and I pulled into the gas station, which was bustling with customers

A number of months ago, I came home from work and gave my wife Jill a summarized recounting of the day, declaring with loud exasperation, “I worked like crazy today and didn’t get anything done.” She looked at me like I had grown a horn out of the middle of

I’ve had a practice with my band and jazz band students at the faith-based university where I teach of sharing a brief devotional meditation from my recent Bible reading at the start of each rehearsal. It is short and often, at least to me, quite unremarkable. I’ve pledged to them

As I write this, we are something like two weeks into the Governor-ordered social distancing andshelter-in-place guidelines in Colorado related to the Coronavirus. What a disorienting and anxious timefor many of us. An added level of disorientation was already present in my life, as we’ve been out of our home

I am an anxious person. When I was a kid, more than once one of my parents would say, “Mark, you’re a worry wart.” I hated that. It sounded weak and, now, through adult categories a bit categorical. But I suppose I was. I was terrified of tornados, to the

This talk was presented in chapel at Colorado Christian University.  Sharing from Scripture and my own life story, I seek to remind us all of the beauty of the good news of the gospel, and how foundational its message of forgiveness is to how we live our lives. Anyone struggling

I haven’t had a Starbucks in 9 days…. No, I am not on some Lent-like abstinence plan.  I’ve had all sorts of coffee over the last 9 days, just no Starbucks.  I’m just coming off 9 days of vacation in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, where there was no Starbucks within 50