• Relationship with God,  Renewing the Mind,  Spiritual Disciplines,  Spiritual Growth

    How to Have an Easy Yoke

    Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ake my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30 Consider how subversive the idea that Jesus offers us an easy yoke. Certainly, this is the first time that such a thing is even suggested, even in the Bible. The Levitical laws don’t strike me as a burden that is light, after all. And religion is filled with duties and obligations that weigh heavy on us. Then came Jesus proclaiming…

  • earthquake
    Featured,  Trauma

    The Anchorage Earthquake: A Lesson in Aftershocks

    The Anchorage earthquake of 2018 wasn’t my first rodeo, though it felt like it. I remember the Northridge quake decades ago while I was in college. I lived too far away to feel much except a jolt as I walked through the apartments at the University of California, Irvine. I remember the pictures, of course. Broken bridges and crumpled asphalt roads shock the eye and alarm the heart, even if one isn’t personally affected. But this one frightened me. I should say terrified. I realize now that I have never been properly terrified. The car accidents I have been in, even a severe one, started and stopped too quickly to…