Echoes and Moments

Since I was a freshman in college, I've taken to be something of a spiritual disciplines connoisseur. Whereas my experiences range from the impatient and fad-driven to the full blown mystical longings deep in the night, I've lately taken to one form of prayer that has helped me step into more full awareness of the presence of God throughout each moment of my day. As I talk to most people about their prayer life, be they good friends or students that I am discipling or mentoring, I've noticed a few common trends: 1) People usually do value prayer, 2) they feel they don't do enough of it, and 3) they have a  hard time finding a suitable time or prayer regimen that helps it become a daily priority. Now usually when I'm presented with these common barriers to spiritual discipline, I react much in the same way that I would react upon hearing that many people skip breakfast during the day, or that some of my non-Christian friends would react to my commitment to abstin...

Some lighthearted content this week. Okay, perhaps not. Let me start with a premise: Winter seems a ripe, ideal time for existentialism. In this season, we Christians meditate on the mystery of the Incarnation, a leap from reason that God would climactically enter into human history and begin the grand erasure between infinite divinity and the sorry state of humankind. Yet some of us have a more difficult time grappling with God in the face of the difficulties that can arise during the winter. Although the holidays have subsided into the renewed rhythms of January, the trauma many of us experience amidst family conflict, hellish travel scenarios, and (this one hits me in particular) our culture's obscene consumerism can leave their mark into the New Year. If anything, we long for more, eagerly awaiting the warmth of the sun as the earth surely does. On a recent plane ride I burned through  the Stranger , by Albert Camus, in which the main character finds his own violent, sens...

Like many of you, 2012 was a time of intense contradictions, challenges, joys, and paradoxes for me. I saw my life turn upside down as I ventured into the new world of post college emerging adulthood. I stepped more fully into my role as a minister to community college students, and I began work as a part-time contract writer in science education. I got to return to Spain and enjoyed the richness of their food, art, and captivating lifestyle. I said goodbye to some dear friends who moved away to face the wonders of the real world, and made some new ones as my community shifts and bends away from what I knew before. I spent my last minutes of the year singing in Hindi with 16,000 college students, missionaries, pastors, campus ministers, and others in Saint Louis, Missouri . It was a powerful affirmation of my calling into God's mission around the world, and a meaningful picture of every tribe, tongue, and nation represented in His kingdom. But I find it necessary to acknowledge so...