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Cultivating Glory

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General Christian

2019-06-29T07:44:05-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Peace We Do Not Look For

Last updated on: June 29, 2019 at 7:44 am By Christie Purifoy

Around here, summer began with a long-anticipated trip followed by a week of jet-lag. But even jet-lag has gifts to give: gifts like daily encounters with the summer sunrise and blurry-eyed evenings where rocking, slowly, on the front porch feels like the only possible thing to do. For three evenings in a row, I was there, in a rocking chair on the front porch as deer nosed their way around the corner of the house. That first night, I... Read more

2019-06-08T09:20:20-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Searching for Glory

Last updated on: June 8, 2019 at 9:20 am By Christie Purifoy

I live in the ordinary dull-gray world of sibling squabbles, broken air-conditioners, flower-eating garden pests, and forgotten dentist appointments, with their companion fines. Of course I do. But kneeling in my garden with purple catmint waving and blooming over my head, it seems–for a moment–as if I live in a rainbow-tinted world of magic and wonder and deeply-rooted happiness. That’s the power of perspective, isn’t it? Change your point of view and some good gift becomes available that wasn’t... Read more

2019-06-01T09:06:26-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

It is Time to Taste and See

Last updated on: June 1, 2019 at 9:06 am By Christie Purifoy

It is the first day of June, and I can feel spring rolling into summer. The air seems heavier, the sunlight more sharp. Afternoon thunderstorms pop like fireworks: quick and fierce and gone in a blink. The seasons for watching and waiting, planting and hoping have been fulfilled, and their fulfillment tastes like warm strawberries, cold lemonade, peppery basil on the pizzas we make each and every Friday night. In fact, I am typing this out quickly before dashing... Read more

2019-05-28T11:11:17-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Why We Must Cultivate Memory Like Soil

Last updated on: May 28, 2019 at 11:11 am By Christie Purifoy

Toward the end of our Memorial Day gathering, I walked with a few friends down the long length of our driveway. We used our cellphones as flashlights, but when the little child in our midst pointed out the very first firefly of the season, we turned off our phones. At first we paused, the way forward lost in total darkness, but soon more fireflies, the neighbor’s sporadic fireworks, and the glow of a thunderstorm on the horizon softened the... Read more

2019-05-21T09:08:34-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The High Price of Living Life in a Hurry

Last updated on: May 21, 2019 at 9:08 am By Christie Purifoy

It only lasted a moment but what a moment. And how near I came to missing it. * Seven a.m. is rush hour in my kitchen on a weekday morning. Perhaps it’s the same in your home? It is not the hour for stopping to smell the roses. I’ve learned–through trial and error–that it isn’t even the time for a bit of devotional reading or prayer with my kids. We save that for the dinner table. It is the... Read more

2019-05-14T09:41:37-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Don’t Forget To Gather Your Harvest

Last updated on: May 14, 2019 at 9:41 am By Christie Purifoy

Spring is my personal harvest season. The plans I made last summer, the bulbs I buried in the fall, the hopes I nurtured over winter, are yielding their harvest now. It is a harvest of ‘White Triumphator’ tulips followed by ‘White Giant’ alliums in the flower garden and roses climbing near the kitchen door and over the chicken coop. It is the dangling white bells of the Carolina Silverbell tree I planted near the porch on the eastern side... Read more

2019-05-07T10:21:00-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Abundant Life Among the Tangled Weeds

Last updated on: May 7, 2019 at 10:21 am By Christie Purifoy

May is my favorite month in the garden. The late daffodils and tulips are still hanging on, the trees and grass are fully green, and everything else–from peonies to roses–is all set to burst into summer bloom. It isn’t like that moment of almost frenzied anticipation that arrives just at the end of winter. This moment is sweeter, lovelier, and it lingers. * But this isn’t my first May in the garden here at Maplehurst, and I am keenly... Read more

2019-04-30T12:10:19-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A Same Old (Never Gets Old) Easter

Last updated on: April 30, 2019 at 12:10 pm By Christie Purifoy

There are some miracles so regular we can almost forget they are miracles. The day before Easter is that miracle for me. Every year for seven years, the Saturday morning following Good Friday erupts in laughter and sunshine, celebration and joy. Against all odds. It has become an annual harvest of glory, but like any harvest, it never feels entirely reliable. It always feels, some years a little bit and some years a lot, like an impossible dream. Every... Read more

2019-04-27T08:51:50-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Can You Hear the Song of the Trees?

Last updated on: April 27, 2019 at 8:51 am By Christie Purifoy

It felt like winter would last forever, while it lasted. Spring was a mirage we hardly dared believe. And resurrection? A comforting idea. A tale told to children. An old story we wrapped round ourselves like a blanket while winter storms battered the window panes. * There were signs that something was stirring beneath the mud and last year’s leaves. Brave yellow daffodils raised trumpets as if to proclaim some impossible, good news. But their song was whipped away... Read more

2019-04-13T13:09:57-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

We Aren’t Waiting For Resurrection

Last updated on: April 13, 2019 at 1:09 pm By Christie Purifoy

We are living it. I feel that more than ever in early spring. Sometimes winter fools us. And this has been a long winter. After a long accumulation of cold days, we can be taken in by the surface of things, and death can seem total and irreversible. But it isn’t. Our ancient saucer magnolia is singing her praises to heaven just in time for Holy Week, and I am thinking of these beautiful and prophetic words from Song... Read more

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