Distracted

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The other evening I was playing Wordle on my phone,
while working on a blog post on my laptop,
while watching the Brewer game on TV.

Was I being “distracted from distraction by distraction”?
(T. S. Eliot, “The Four Quartets”)
Sure I was.

The only time the word “distracted” shows up in the Bible is in Luke 10:40. “But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.” In Greek, the word means “to be driven about or dragged all around.”

I wanted to know more.

So I put down my Wordle game and looked away from the ballgame so I could open up another tab on my laptop and look up the history of the word “distraction.”

One of the meanings of the word comes from a French term related to a cruel form of torture in the Middle Ages, reserved for the very worst of criminals. The offender’s four limbs were tied to four horses……and……well……they got dis-tracted.

The world tries to pull us in different directions
until we feel stretched and about to snap.

Jesus offers something different.
“In him all things hold together…
So that in everything He might have supremacy.”
Colossians 1:17-18

Lord, I invite You to rule and reign over my time today. Teach me to set aside worthless idols and be drawn to Your beauty, truth and goodness. Distract me away from distractions with Your loving-kindness. Help me keep my eyes on You.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face.
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.

45

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This is what 45 Overliens look like.

They came from the east coast, from the west coast, and from down the road.

At the end of the day,
we ate 22 lbs. of pulled pork,
we finished off a DQ ice cream sheet cake and a jumbo box of Bomb Pops,
we drank gallons of lemonade and coolers full of soda,
we talked and talked and talked
(these ARE Overliens, after all).
Some of us swam in the lake.
Most of us sat in the shade.
It was a glorious day.

We were missing a few—27 to be exact.

I noticed that one name kept coming up in conversations—Gigi.
Great-grandma was the matriarch of the family until she passed in 2021.
She prayed for all of her children
and grandchildren
and great-grandchildren
every day.

She prayed for our sick babies and adventurous teenagers and prodigal rebels.
She prayed in four daughters-in-law and one son-in-law.
She brought down blessings on our families.

We’re still reaping the benefits from Gigi’s faithful prayers.
Now it’s our turn.

Ten Thousand Thunders

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One of the goals I set for myself this summer is to read “Paradise Lost” by John Milton. It’s an epic poem, first published in 1667 and considered to be Milton’s masterpiece. Written in blank verse, which means it doesn’t rhyme, every line has exactly ten syllables. And there are over 10,000 lines in this poem. I thought it would take me all summer to slog through this renowned classic.

But I can’t put it down.

The poem tells the story of the war in heaven, the expulsion of Lucifer with one-third of the rebellious angels, and the temptation and fall of humans in Eden.

The other day, I had to put it down because I was weeping.
I had no idea this archaic poem would move me so much.

Here’s the scene:

As the war in heaven between the holy angels and the fallen angels raged on, God called on the great Son to enter the fray. Jesus roared into the battle on a “fierce chariot” with “burning wheels” that shook all of heaven. In His right hand He grasped “ten thousand thunders.” With one look at the Son, the demons “withered all their strength.” They were driven like a herd of goats to the “crystal wall of heaven” where opening wide before them was the “wasteful deep, a monstrous sight that shook them with horror.” But with the Almighty Son closing in on them, they chose to jump—”headlong themselves they threw down to the bottomless pit. Nine days they fell.”

Here’s my thought:

Milton’s depiction of the Son of God in all His power and glory was breathtaking. His account of the decisive and complete victory over evil gave me goosebumps. But what brought me to tears was the realization that Jesus could have shaken earth with ten thousand thunders, but instead chose to withhold His power and submit to death, even death on a cross. For love of you and me.

I know what happens next, but I can’t wait to see how Milton describes it.

He Knows Where to Find Me

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I went to a Christian writer’s conference last week. I didn’t post anything here because I was too busy learning how to be a Christian writer. I met a lot of very nice people and collected a stack of Christian writers’ business cards. I heard some very inspiring presentations and took notes in all the sessions. I pitched an idea for a book to three publishers and learned I need at least 10,000 followers before being considered as a prospective author.

Only 9,700 more to go.

Tim Challies (www.challies.com) was the keynote speaker. As my head was swimming with “10 Ways to Market Your Book” and “Why You Need to Grow Your Reach,” Tim spoke about things closer to my heart.

He encouraged us to resist the pull of popularity.
“The book business is a numbers-driven industry that is extremely competitive.
Be honored that anybody reads your words—that God gives you any readers.
Be content.”

He said success carries a heavy weight of responsibility.
“God expects more from those who have more gifts.
God’s giving of a little might be a gift saving you from yourself.”

He told us that developing character is more important than success.
“Don’t let your success rise above your sanctification.
Most of us don’t have the holiness to handle success.”

I am, indeed, very honored that you stop by here and read from time to time.
I don’t want the responsibility that comes with publishing success.
I’ve got my hands full working on growing godly character.
I am content.

Spurgeon said it best:
“When God wants you, He knows where to find you.
You need not go and push yourself to the front;
the Lord will bring you to the front when He wants you.
Oh, for grace to work on unobserved!”

Up, Up and Away

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I missed it.
I always miss it.
I didn’t even know I was missing it.
Did you miss it, too?
Probably.

Last Thursday was Ascension Day.
Until recently, I wasn’t aware there was such a thing.
It’s a big thing.

Ascension Day is celebrated 40 days after Easter Sunday and commemorates the moment Jesus ascended into heaven and took His rightful place on the throne as ruler of the universe.

That’s a really big thing.

Eugene Peterson said, “Ascension Day may be one of the the most under-celebrated events in the church’s life. Part of the reason is that Ascension Day always falls on Thursday, never on a Sunday, and so no sermon is required.”*

There are no presents to buy, no cards to send, no baskets to hide.
Mail gets delivered, banks are open and nobody gets the day off.

“When Luke set out in Acts to tell us the story of the church, he began with Jesus’ Ascension. It’s the opening scene that establishes the context for everything that follows: Jesus installed in a position of absolute rule—Christ our King.”*

So, why should we celebrate Ascension Day?

  • It’s the day Jesus entrusted us to take His message to the world
  • It ushered in the coming of the Holy Spirit ten days later
  • It gives believers hope for a future resurrection
  • Jesus, the divine, went up without abandoning His humanity
  • The ascension gives us a picture of what His return will be like
  • It shows Jesus’ triumphant victory over death
  • This day crowns Him King over the universe in glory
  • It begins Jesus’ role as intercessor for us in heaven

Celebration is in order, my friends.

Mark your calendars for Thursday, May 14, 2026!

He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
Why do you stand here looking into the sky?
This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven,
will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.
Acts 1: 9, 11

God has gone up with a shout!
Sing praises to our King.
He is king over all the earth;
He sits on his holy throne.
Psalm 47:5-7


*Eugene Peterson, Practice Resurrection, p. 43

Now I Know My ABCs

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The Alphabet Song—it’s one of the first songs we learn as children.

We sing “A-B-C-D-E-F-G….”
before we know the sound each letter makes,
before we understand that letters can be combined to make words,
before we comprehend that words can be put together to make sentences,
before we grasp that sentences can create stories that can become books.
The letters of the alphabet are the building blocks of language.

The next time you go into a library or book store,
look at the plethera of books and think,
“Every word in every book on every shelf has used the same 26 letters.”

From Goodnight Moon to Paradise Lost—
from People magazine to Encyclopedia Britannica.
All we have is 26 letters.
And endless combinations to make millions of words. 

The ancient Hebrew alphabet had 22 letters.
Back in 2020, I did a series on each of the letters in the Hebrew Aleph-Bet.
Every day, those blog posts are still read.
Every single day.
Five years later.
I don’t know who you are, but thanks for reading!
To make it easier to access, I created a category called “Hebrew Alphabet.”
May God bless the letters in both of our alphabets.


For further reading:
ABCs
Aleph
Bet


Liquid Prayers

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Is there a wrong way to pray?
It seems to me we’re invited to pray in all kinds of ways.

Pray in the Spirit  in every situation.
Use every kind of prayer and request there is.
Ephesians 6:18

We can pray spontaneously from the heart or speak words that the saints have used for centuries.

Our prayers can be praise and thanksgiving or confession and repentance.

We can pray on our knees or stand with our hands raised high.

We can pray at set times or anytime.

We can sing for joy or lament in sorrow.

We can use lots of words or no words at all.

When we don’t know what to pray, “the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” (Romans 8:26) Groans can be prayers.

When all we have is tears, that’s enough.

“Let us learn to think of tears as liquid prayers.”
(Charles Spurgeon)

Perhaps tears are the most precious prayers.

You keep track of all my sorrows.
You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
You have recorded each one in your book.
Psalm 56:8

So whether you’re coming to God today
with shouts of praise or groans and tears,
know that He hears all kinds of prayers.
There’s not a wrong way to pray.
Just come.

Impatient Impatiens

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This time of year, greenhouses are brimming with impatiens.
They are my go-to flowers for our shady front porch.
Every year.
Four big pots are filled with the red variety
with some white ones planted in the middle of each one.
Every single year.

The word “impatiens” is Latin for “impatient,” named thus because of the way their seed pods explosively release seeds at the slightest touch. In other words, impatiens are touchy and tend to blow up at the smallest disturbance.

As I carried out my yearly ritual of planting red and white impatiens, I was reminded that this is year #4 in my nine-year study on the Fruit of the Spirit, as found in Galatians 5:22.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
(Kinda glad self-control is at the end.)

Love, joy, peace….patience.
Oh boy.
This could be a long year.

Years ago, I tried to teach my young children the concept of patience
and found this definition:

“Patience is waiting with a happy spirit.”

I can grit my teeth and wait when I have to—
it’s the happy spirit that needs some work.
Less touchiness, no blowing up.

Hopefully, this summer as my impatiens grow on the front porch,
the Holy Spirit will help the fruit of patience to grow in me.

Super-Duper

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I am an unashamed word nerd.
I have a list on my Notes app titled “Whizz-Bang Words.”
Doesn’t everyone?

Sometimes they are words that are just fun to say: rollicking and flapdoodle.
I’d rather be described as the former (carefree and joyous) than the later (fool).

Sometimes they are words that go well together: linger and longer.
Surely they belong in a poem somewhere.

Maybe that’s why the Apostle Paul is my Bible Buddy. He was a master wordsmith. Finding the right words was so important to Paul that sometimes the Greek language just wasn’t big enough to express what he wanted to say. So Paul invented brand new words, usually by mashing together two smaller words and creating an expression that was revolutionary.

Perhaps he tossed in these unique expressions for some shock value. It made people perk up their ears. “What did he say? Come again?”

To prove the level of my nerdiness, I have made it my goal in life to find every one of Paul’s mashed-up, made-up words. Using some online resources, it’s not that hard to dig up these invented idioms that are found only one time in the scriptures.

One example is in Romans 8:37, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” More than conquerors is one word in Greek: hypernikaō‘ (pronounced hoop-er-nik-ah-o). Nikaō‘ means conquerors, but putting the hyper in front creates a whole new expression: we might say “super-duper conquerors.”

To be a conqueror implies complete, overwhelming victory,
but Paul wanted to add some punch
so he made up a new word:
hypernikaō‘—more than conquerors. 

Paul was a super-duper-hooper kind of guy
because
he served a super-duper-hooper kind of God.
May we learn to live in the
“more than”
“the overwhelming”
“the super-duper”
love of God.

Gall

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“They came to a place called Golgotha.
There they offered Jesus vinegar to drink,
mixed with gall;
but after tasting it, he refused to drink it.”
Matthew 27:34

See that knobby thing growing on that tree branch? It’s a gall. Galls are any kind of abnormal growth on a plant. They can be caused by insect infestation, bacteria or viruses, injuries or irritations.

I never paid much attention to those weird lumps before.
Now I see them everywhere.

Vinegar or wine infused with wood from a gall produces bitter tasting painkiller. It was offered to Jesus on the cross but he refused to take it. Christ was determined to take on the full force of our sin and drink the cup of suffering to the dregs without anesthesia. It had to be vinegar and gall because 1,000 years before the crucifixion, King David wrote,

“They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.”
Psalm 69:21

Why all this talk about galls?
PB has been chosen to be an extra on “The Chosen.”
He goes to Utah soon for three days of filming crowd scenes for season six.

I’m not sure he’ll pass as a Jewish rabbi, but perhaps he could be a bedouin sheep-herder from the far northern reaches. Or an Anglo-Saxon merchant with Viking blood carrying lutefisk and lefse from the North Sea.

I bet he’ll be the only one on the film set with a gall on his walking stick.