Forward Day By Day – April 22, 2020

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

I walk into the woods late one winter afternoon. Evening’s great sponge wrings out daylight quicker than I anticipate. Standing in a small clearing where the sun has just gone down, I hear the voice of a single star speaking softly. It is quite small, not...

Forward Day By Day – April 21, 2020

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Returning to the grave in which we bury the fear of losing love, we discover that even the dirt has risen. We dig furiously with our prayers, throwing shovels full of devout and faithful words in every direction. Only when all our words are gone, and our...

Forward Day By Day – April 20, 2020

Monday, April 20, 2020

If I could—and what a leap of faith—I would see sherbet in the sky and children running along the edge of their lives carrying bowls and spoons to taste heaven’s sweet love, sand kicking up behind their heels like exclamation marks. Love would have no ….(View...

Forward Day By Day – April 19, 2020

Sunday, April 19, 2020

Imagine your bones imagining themselves. Imagine them imagining flesh and blood; praying for eyes and ears, lips and a tongue, a voice, a song. And a soul. Imagine your bones having a dream and then waking up alive in your skin and discovering, at that moment, that...

Forward Day By Day – April 18, 2020

Saturday, April 18, 2020

My valleys of shadow recall nothing the darkness ever told me to believe. I have finally accepted the topography of my own soul, the beautiful meadows and rolling foothills of love and grace that Jesus shared. That is what I am doing on this morning, warming myself in...

Forward Day By Day – April 17, 2020

Friday, April 17, 2020

Imagine Jesus coming to breakfast. A star falling through the roof and into your bowl of cereal, splattering milk on your face, and there among the cornflakes, waiting for your spoon, the kingdom of heaven comes near. Maybe you’ve been a fisher of men...

Forward Day By Day – April 16, 2020

Thursday, April 16, 2020

From the Archives: November 4, 1941When our Lord came bringing redemption, he did not stop to count the cost. When this woman wanted to show her gratitude, nothing but the best would do. Onlookers called it extravagance, complained at the waste. Jesus said she was...

Forward Day By Day – April 15, 2020

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

We are sitting on the sofa, speaking about Jesus, when suddenly our souls seem to be splashing with unaccountable joy. We can see no reason for this preposterous happiness, but you turn to me and say, “I feel a gentle wind touching me, playing a song of happiness.”...

Forward Day By Day – April 14, 2020

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Mary told us she’d seen the flowers of Golgotha. I desperately want to believe her. I miss my friend, my teacher. But unless I smell those flowers, until I see their colors with my own eyes and touch the blooms and petals with my own hands, how can I believe her?...

Forward Day By Day – April 13, 2020

Monday, April 13, 2020

With God, we are like butterflies out of the cocoon, former caterpillars now spreading stained-glass wings, the pattern of God’s fingerprints dusted all over them. Our fragility becomes our strength because God restores our broken places. The Lord transforms our scars...