On Sunday it will be helpful to know two words. Ruach and pneuma. In my dyslexic phonetics they are roo-aw-ck and new-ma. Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to pronounce them before I say them first. They both mean sort of the same thing – bigger than a breath and more dynamic that the wind. Ruach (רוּחַ) is a Hebrew word, in Genesis it described the animating breath of God breathed into creation. From the New Testement, pneuma (πνεῦμα) is a Greek word for breath or spirit. I love

I got in a little fender-bender this week. A sweet woman named Betty pulled into a parking lot driveway and right into my car. Everyone was fine, but the front corner of my car got crunched. So now I’m waiting to hear the verdict from the collision shop and insurance company. It was, thankfully, a very minor accident but, as a friend, still big enough to create a headache. As the tow truck whisked the nearly 15-year-old car off to the shop, I got oddly sentimental about “her.

I missed an assignment for class this week and had to ask for an extension. I don’t think I’ve ever asked for an extension, even in seminary when I had a baby at the end of spring semester I got all of my work done before I went into labor. The response from my (older white guy) professor was, “fine, but just this one time…,” as if he, or I, have any control on what the next 5-7 years of my life will look like. So, I’m up early to work on it and I’m still struggling to write

I recently got entangled in a very dark and twisted romance series. A Lesson in Thorns by Sierra Simone is set in an old gothic estate located in Dartmoor, England. Five childhood friends reunite to uncover the secrets of the manor and their parents. What drew me to the book series is the female main character is a librarian and a secondary character is a Catholic Priest. Right up my niche ally, and as I hoped, the story is rich with literary and religious imagery (and humor