My favorite season is Advent. All the anticipation and waiting. The preparations. Lighting a new candle each Sunday, then, on Christmas Eve, passing the fire from candle to candle. When I came home from New Jersey, I found a treat in my mailbox (the good kind; not the kind from the neighborhood kids)--a copy of the Mosaic Bible. The Mosaic Bible uses the New Living Translation. At the beginning of each book, the editors give a short paragraph summary of the content of the book, an outlin... Read Full Story

I'm speaking of New Jersey, of course, the land upon which God will model the new earth. As much as I love this great state, I had second-guessed my decision to take my annual trip. With finances what they are (or aren't, rather), did I need this research trip? I know the area, the mindsets, the lifestyles. I know how things work. Going was the right decision. I had been afraid about writing my next novel for multiples reasons. Those fears haven't left. But ideas begin to shout over the ... Read Full Story

My Twitter friends may remember that sometime in September (or was it August?) I began degrouting our shower. The grout is original, which, while a high status in the art and fashion world, here means it's sometimes missing and sometimes moldy. I felt I had to shower after stepping out of my shower. And my Twitter friends may recall that this project may indeed be the death of me (see--I can pick up a good southern phrase). Classic tweets regarding the project include: off to de-grout my... Read Full Story

Then. Then. On a certain day not long before the leaf will fall not long before it returns dust to dust to mulch. Then the green fades giving way first to yellow then to orange. Then the red that has always been there waiting emerges along the veins and the edges pushing to the rest of the leaf. Pushing and bleeding until the whole leaf shines with waxy red brilliance. Read Full Story

For your afternoon jog, create a playlist on your iPod (or other mp3 player) of, say, Jamie Cullum's "I Could Have Danced All Night," "La Vie Boheme" from Rent, Chopin's Etude #5 ("Revolution"), and U2's "Elevation." Human nature demands you incorporate dance steps into your jog. Sure, you may incur odd looks from parents walking their children home from school (the children will understand, of course), but your heart-rate will double, you'll extend ... Read Full Story

Let me preface this with two statements: 1. Evangelism and social justice are necessary and normative to the Christian life. 2. Art has a place in shining light on and practicing in both these issues. For years, Christian writers have been decrying the idea that every book by a Christian author must be evangelistic. I don't think anyone means that a book necessarily can't have an evangelistic idea in it. After all, conversion is central to story, whether that conversion be Christian or... Read Full Story

In Israel, I was trendy. I saw some of the latest archaeological digs. We passed a main street in Jerusalem from Byzantine times, drove by a sanctuary recently unearthed in Magdala, stepped into the believed house of Peter (the apostle of Jesus), peeked into the palace of Queen Helena (from first century AD), and walked through King David's Palace. In 2005 through 2008, a woman named Eilat Mazar (who happens to be the granddaughter of the archaeologist who unearthed the Temple Mount) exc... Read Full Story

The world-weary traveler (more like world cuisine-stuffed traveler) has returned home and is ready to offer up thoughts on Israel and New Jersey packed in brown paper packages tied up with string.* I cried thrice in Israel. My first tears occurred at the museum that houses the Dead Sea Scrolls (The Israel Museum in Jerusalem). Men belonging to a Jewish sect called the Essenes lived with their families in the first century B.C. around caves, which we call Qumran. The men would leave thei... Read Full Story

Last night, before watching the latest episode of Flash Forward, Chris said, "Remind me how the last one ended." My reply: "The guy from Coupling who was in the girl from Lost's flash forward got a call from Charlie from Lost saying something about them being responsible, and the Shakespeare guy told his coworker to call the hacker." Oddly enough, he understood me. Read Full Story

After returning from Israel (and having some sense of coherence return to my life--although not much), I thought I'd compile a list of tips for those of you out there desiring to make a trip to the Holy Lands. Or for those of you armchair travelers who prefer seeing the world through the travel channel. You still may need these tips before the Israel episode. Travel with cynical writers. I worried the trip would be made up of constant emotional breakdowns and holy moments. Israel's a great... Read Full Story