I’ve been wading in “the gray afternoon of the soul.” It’s not as dramatic as St. John of the Cross’ “Dark Night of the Soul.” It’s like being stuck in a thick fog with no light cutting through to show the way back to sunshine and simplicity. It’s been a season of aching over brokenness—my own, others, our polarized country and churches, and the horrors flashing on the nightly news

The thing most about-to-marry girls want to hear is how to prevent the mistakes their parents and everyone else in the world have made.

“Whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” Proverbs 11:25 I want to give a cup of cold water to those weary in well doing. To connect people to Christ through story, Scripture, and creative community.

As I walked and waited, prayed and pondered, I heard a quiet reassurance, “All shall be well.” And that one simple, but not ‘pat’ sentence, allowed me to breathe.

Because if we opened ourselves to joy, well, there could be . . . dancing. And then how would we ever get back to the real grind of work?

I’ve lived the life of an over-eager onion peeler for many years.

2. Life is bitter/sweet.

All I could hear was Miracle Max’s voice from Princess Bride. Was the vine “mostly dead or all dead?”