Journal

Category: Liturgical Seasons

Abide in My Love

Abide in My Love

As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.  Abide in my love. – John 15:9 As we move into Lent next Wednesday, here are some thoughts that are helpful to keep firmly in mind and heart. When you’re going to truly consider and climb down into the depth of...
Lent Resources

Lent Resources

As we approach the season of Lent one week from today, please see this printable PDF that we put together of some resources we really like. We want to particularly point you toward An American Lent, an online tool which we helped develop to dive into this season of...

I Wonder as I Wander

The year was 1933, deep into the Great Depression. In Murphy, NC, a small Appalachian town, a group of evangelicals seeking to raise funds had been ordered out of town. At one point before leaving: “A girl had stepped out to the edge of the little platform...
Coracle Annual Report 2017-2018

Coracle Annual Report 2017-2018

Dear ones, I’m delighted to offer you Coracle’s Annual Report for 2017, and a look into 2018.   Please take some time to look it through, thank God with us, and pray for us coming into 2018. SO many people are making Coracle possible, and you are amongst them.  Thank...
The Annunciation

The Annunciation

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.  And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the...

Happy Birthday, Church!

“Just as the resurrection of Jesus opened up the unexpected world of God’s new creation, so the Spirit comes to us from that new world, the world waiting to be born, the world in which, according to the old prophets, peace and justice will flourish, and the wolf...

Lent Resources 2017

Liturgical seasons can act as guideposts through the year and Lent is a particularly special one.  It’s easy to get caught up in the “sackcloth and ashes” part of Lent, with all the self-denial and focus on our own sin.  This is important to...

What leads you to wonder?

My first invitation to wonder about Jesus’ coming came when I was a boy, stealing away to my childhood living room and sitting alone among all the bright trimmings of the season. Without really knowing it was happening, the mystery of the season seeped into my soul....

What are we waiting for?

“What are you waiting for?” It’s a question that we might be asked by a stranger as we hold up a grocery story line or to a friend who we want to encourage to step out in faith. It’s normally a question that implies choosing to wait as the lesser choice. Advent, on...

Advent in a Divided Season

By: Todd Deatherage As 2016 moves to its end, many wish it had all been just an unpleasant dream. Our experiences this year, as in most, teach us that things are not right in the world, not as they should be. An ugly American election season has exposed deep fault...

Sheer Joy!

Last time I offered some Transcendence.  This time I want to offer Sheer Joy!  These few things fill my heart with laughter or happiness or wonder or all of them at the same time.  Enjoy them! The first is probably my favorite minute and twenty-two seconds on Youtube....

The Gift of Contemplation

On my journey with Christ I have considered myself many things:  a redeemed, rescued, forgiven, beloved child of God; Jesus’s friend; Jesus’s co-laborer in the world; God’s handiwork created in His image.  But rarely have I identified with being a “contemplative,” one...

Waiting for Jesus – First week of Advent

Every year as Advent begins our family takes out its Christmas library – the loosely curated stash of books acquired over many years conveying the Christmas story and spirit in poetry, images, songs, and stories from across centuries and around the world.  At the...