"What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me? I shall lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord." (Psalm 116:12-13) I woke up this morning slowly, after lying in bed a long time. I woke up in great anxiety and distress, wishing for a different, a better, life. I cried out to God in the shower to save me from this bleak mood into which I was descending. He answered me with the Scripture I quoted above. "I shall lift up the cup of salvation." I cannot count the blessings that God has given me - raising me out of the world and giving me knowledge of Himself, gifting me with abilities to love and serve others, placing me in a community of believers who care about me and pray for me. God has not forgotten me, and I...

"All man's troubles derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone." Culture is a systematized distraction, the constant diverting of self away from self, when that it is too painful to contemplate. We cannot too long be the object of our own thoughts. The true solution? A life of love. But how to get there? On that point I'm not so sure. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Went to two doctor's appointments today and took the day off work for that purpose. Blogs, Battlestar my primary diversions. They give some pleasure but still, I find myself struggling for the inward center of peace....

When I was young, I used to sleep in the upper room of my grandparents' house in the suburbs of D.C. It used to be my uncles' room when they were growing up and it still had many of their things in it. One of the objects I particularly prized was a photo-print of the Milky Way galaxy that hung over the desk opposite from where I slept. In recent years, my grandfather has had to move from that house, in which he lived for 40 years, to the retirement home where my father works. He still has many of the things which made his house so special, though. Among them is the print, which I was able to get from him about a year ago. For a long time, I didn't have a place to put it, but I just hung it over the couch in my apartment. Now...

I used to think that a concentration camp was where they killed you with studying too much....

Process and openness-of-God theologians believe there is such a thing as meaningless suffering, suffering which is outside the will of God. While I can see the reasons why one would hold this view, I cannot embrace it myself. In the end, it is infinitely more comforting to know that my suffering is ordained for my good and for God's glory, that all things work together for good for those who love God. If God were not present in our suffering, how could He be present in our redemption?...