My Commonplace Book

(I ran across these lyrics from a song by Jackson Browne—a challenge to American evangelicalism.)
All the streets are filled with laughter and light
And the music of the season
And the merchants windows are all bright
With the faces of the children
And the families hurrying to their homes
As the sky darkens and freezes
They’ll be gathering around the hearths [...]

Any patch of sunlight in a wood will show you something about the sun which you could never get from reading books on astronomy. These pure and spontaneous pleasures are “patches of Godlight” in the woods of our experience.–C.S. Lewis

The Inklings believed that the “universe was alive with God’s presence.” They saw creation [...]

To affirm and bask in the goodness of the world, to praise God for the wonders of creation, to practice responsible stewardship of this small planet, and to honor its Maker by using its resources wisely for the welfare of the race and the enriching of human life are all integral aspects of the work [...]

Just wanted you to know why I wasn’t blogging. I was fulfilling the God’s command to “rule over the fish of the sea” (Gen: 1:28). I just got back from Alaska, floating down the Gulkana River, chasing king salmon as they made their final run to their spawning grounds. I hope to [...]

I sat on the front porch this morning and came across the following lovely lines from Vasser Miller’s poem “Morning Person.”
God, best at making in the morning, tossed
stars and planets, singing and dancing, rolled
Saturn’s rings spinning and humming, twirled the earth
so hard it coughed and spat the moon up, brilliant
bubble flowing around it for good, [...]

“God writes the Gospel, not in the bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars.”
Martin Luther

For he has raised everywhere, in all places and in all things, his ensigns and emblems, under blazons so clear and intelligible that no one can pretend ignorance in not knowing such a sovereign Lord …
It is evident that all creatures, from those in the firmament to those which are in the center of [...]

Love people even in their sin, for that is the semblance of Divine Love and is the highest love on earth. Love all of God’s creation, the whole and every grain of sand of it. Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light. Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, [...]

I’ve spent last few days working shoulder to shoulder with my son-in-law Nathan Picard. Nathan and I have been building a white picket fence to surround their little, 672 square foot, bungalow. Nathan and Jessica hope their white picket revision will catch on and others will join them in replacing the plain, efficient, rusted [...]