Stone Crossings

W e pick stones and some of us grate against each other and I scrape dirt back and dig it out and carry away truth: Grace is a hard thing. Boulder hauled in to stabilize a crumbling marriage, Rock to steady a child battered by winds, Stone to rest our world-weary bones. Grace is granite That tears the flesh To be our cornerstone. ::: “ Grace . That's the centerpiece of Stone Crossings: Finding Grace in Hard and Hidden Places , shared through the hard and hidden places of my life and the... Read Full Story

Come Saturday afternoon, when the preparation work is done, time to find a quiet place with delicate petals and long quiet, and settle into life-nurturing words. Words that prepare for the work of grace. Transformative words that will linger, percolate down to the hard places, soften with healing oil. Good, long-lasting words. Some books offer bullet points, sterile checklists, action plans. Well and good, even needful. Some books wax eloquently, poetic and lyrical, but leave us hungry for... Read Full Story

By the penultimate day (next morning I simply get ready to fly out), I'm tired. I haven't actually slept a full night the entire time I've been here. Who can write poetry in this state? Tomorrow will be another day. I go to hear Krista Tippett. She reads from her book. I remember the lines even as she says them, perhaps because her writing is so beautifully crafted, and I find myself reciting passages in my mind, along with the cadence of her voice. In a way, this experience sums up my time... Read Full Story

Without fanfare, on April 1, Stone Crossings officially released. Maybe it's good that the book came quietly onto the scene, considering it was April Fool's Day. Of course, early-bird copies had been floating around since I went to Mount Hermon. And some enterprising friends figured out that Amazon would deliver before the release date. One such friend, when the book arrived, had a friendly "fight" with her spouse, over who'd get first dibs. She won and proceeded to read the book in two... Read Full Story

L.L. Barkat's Seedlings in Stone blog was one of the first on my list of favorite reads when I entered the blogging community. When she mentioned that her book was coming out, and she'd need some people to review it when it came out to help spread the word, I lifted a cyber-hand quickly. Barkat's blogging is sparse. She doesn't use many words, but that allows the words that she does choose to really sink in. There's nothing extraneous to clog up her thoughts–nothing but perhaps a crisp... Read Full Story

I know I can get those little book icons from Amazon, to use when reviewing a book on my blog. Sometimes I have. But more often I like to take my own pictures. Personalize things a little. After all, if I'm telling you about a book I'm reading, I feel like I want to add some aspect of my surroundings. Like I said, personalize things a little. Sometimes other people do this too. I still remember Ann Voskamp's lovely worn, wooden table humbly holding tea for two and a copy of Stone Crossings... Read Full Story

It was so much fun for Deb and I to get to meet L.L. Barkat, in town for the festival of faith and writing at Calvin College. She graciously took the end of a busy day, and really, busy two days, to meet with us. The hour went fast as we sipped on some tea, and shared from our lives. L.L., like on her blog, is warm and engaging, and creative in her thinking. And real. I realized that while meeting someone like this is good, and you get a better sense of who they are, it is still limited... Read Full Story

Over at Middle Zone Musings , they're mashing. Not potatoes. But topics. School, writing, children, television, recreation, relatives, movies, friends, heroes, planes, food, pets, trains, time, space, automobiles, technology, mountains. The challenge is to write something using at least two or, for the brave and inspired, ALL of the topics in a piece about... well, about anything one could come up with in a pinch... I seriously thought of submitting the digital file of Stone Crossings , but... Read Full Story

Ann, my dear Ann of Holy Experience , who slowly made her way into my heart, has graciously agreed to let me post her picture of Stone Crossings, as part of my Links for Art offering. I first saw the picture when she gave the world this eloquent review of Stone Crossings . Still, I knew nothing about the secrets behind it, the humble beginnings of the table and what Ann's mind and hands had purposed and wrought. So, thank you, Ann, not only for the picture but also for this beautiful story... Read Full Story

It was dark when I woke. 4:30 in the morning. All was quiet except for the frogs, who never seemed to set love's call aside. (Their wooing task was my constant companion at the conference, often waking me throughout my five consecutive nights.) I dressed slowly, did all the business of what should have been morning and finally stepped outside into the cool mist. My thoughts were secret goodbyes to many of my sleeping friends, as I passed their various cabins. I made my way past the red... Read Full Story