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Cultivating Glory “… that glory may dwell in our land.” (Psalm 85:9) Sat, 02 Nov 2019 13:34:15 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 Why We Should Learn to Love the Color Orange https://www.patheos.com/blogs/cultivatingglory/2019/11/why-we-should-learn-to-love-the-color-orange/ Sat, 02 Nov 2019 13:34:15 +0000 https://admin.patheos.com/blogs/cultivatingglory/?p=1326 Once upon a time, I would have insisted I did not like the color orange. That now strikes me as a very silly thing to say. It’s strange to remember what strong opinions I once had: I didn’t like orange, I couldn’t understand the appeal of boring green shrubs, I thought the growing of […]

]]> Death, Enemies, and Garden Cleanup https://www.patheos.com/blogs/cultivatingglory/2019/10/death-enemies-and-garden-cleanup/ Sat, 19 Oct 2019 14:06:06 +0000 https://admin.patheos.com/blogs/cultivatingglory/?p=1305 How’s that for a title? It’s October at Maplehurst. Most of the leaves are still on most of the trees, though they are now every shade from green to gold to fire. Before they fall and our weekends are consumed by the leaves, I will make a start on the rest of the garden […]

]]> A Gardener’s Religion https://www.patheos.com/blogs/cultivatingglory/2019/10/a-gardeners-religion/ Sat, 12 Oct 2019 12:03:42 +0000 https://admin.patheos.com/blogs/cultivatingglory/?p=1287 Is God in the clouds? Somewhere up above the clouds? Most of us live as if this were the case. Where is God? Out there, somewhere. Ignoring us. Oblivious of us. Angry at us. Disappointed with us. Take your pick. Those brave enough or foolish enough to seek God look for him in debates […]

]]> Right Here, Right Now https://www.patheos.com/blogs/cultivatingglory/2019/09/right-here-right-now/ Sat, 21 Sep 2019 12:44:27 +0000 https://admin.patheos.com/blogs/cultivatingglory/?p=1251 In the churches of my growing up, I heard admired men from shiny pulpits say, “The only things that will last are the souls of men and the Word of God.” I can’t now say that those words were wrong. I can’t say that they weren’t the right words to rattle and shake a […]

]]> The Grace of Unanticipated Routines https://www.patheos.com/blogs/cultivatingglory/2019/09/the-grace-of-unanticipated-routines/ Sat, 07 Sep 2019 11:26:10 +0000 https://admin.patheos.com/blogs/cultivatingglory/?p=1230 When I write about cultivating glory, of course I imagine myself in the role of cultivator. I picture myself as the active one, the one doing the work, the person in control of shaping her days and shaping her life and shaping her place. Illness will knock you right off that pedestal. And illness […]

]]> When Building Up Begins with Tearing Down https://www.patheos.com/blogs/cultivatingglory/2019/08/when-building-up-begins-with-tearing-down/ Sat, 31 Aug 2019 14:08:09 +0000 https://admin.patheos.com/blogs/cultivatingglory/?p=1206 I am writing this from the front porch at Maplehurst. I am writing this from the middle of a construction zone. For the past week, a landscape crew has been hard at work with backhoes and shovels, and the result of all that effort is what appears to be a whole lot of nothing. […]

]]> This Turning World: A Reflection on Hope for Hard Times https://www.patheos.com/blogs/cultivatingglory/2019/08/this-turning-world-a-reflection-on-hope-for-hard-times/ Tue, 27 Aug 2019 13:15:14 +0000 https://admin.patheos.com/blogs/cultivatingglory/?p=1170 Our planet is always turning, always rotating around its center. But there are moments when you feel the thing you’ve always known. A few days ago, it felt to me as if our planet had shifted suddenly into some new gear or groove, and while the ground beneath my feet was unchanged, the air […]

]]> How to Love the Difficult Months https://www.patheos.com/blogs/cultivatingglory/2019/08/how-to-love-the-difficult-months/ Sat, 03 Aug 2019 12:32:41 +0000 https://admin.patheos.com/blogs/cultivatingglory/?p=1154 I should call them the hydrangeas of astonishment. This summer hardly anyone visits us at Maplehurst without saying, “These hydrangeas! Have they always been here? Have they always been so tall?” They haven’t always been here. I planted them myself a handful of years ago. They haven’t always been so tall. Time is as […]

]]> The Most Important Invitation https://www.patheos.com/blogs/cultivatingglory/2019/07/the-most-important-invitation/ Sat, 20 Jul 2019 13:53:48 +0000 https://admin.patheos.com/blogs/cultivatingglory/?p=1116 It’s a wonderful thing to step into a place someone else has prepared for you. Last night, it was my pleasure to help celebrate the release of Shawn Smucker’s beautiful new novel Light From Distant Stars. I read from my own recent book Placemaker, Shawn read the first few evocative pages of his novel, and we shared a […]

]]> Summer Religion https://www.patheos.com/blogs/cultivatingglory/2019/07/summer-religion/ Sat, 06 Jul 2019 12:26:17 +0000 https://admin.patheos.com/blogs/cultivatingglory/?p=1080 I do not love July, but I appreciate its drama. We wake to fog and air so wet and dense I wonder if I could squeeze it, perhaps ring it out like an old bath towel. The afternoons reverberate with thunder, but we’ve become so accustomed to it we no longer hear it. It […]

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