Being Born
Jack Hardaway ] Being born is a pretty traumatic experience. So I hear. I don’t remember it myself. Though I do remember my three children seemed to find it pretty upsetting. There was this silly movie years ago, Look who’s Talking, where the babies talked, Bruce Willis was the voice over for the main character. […]
Grace for All
Jack Hardaway ] Hold on. With both hands. And don’t let go. What is it about children? Always grabbing ahold of both our hands, and standing on our toes, calling out, “Swing me around!” There were years where my toes were continually smashed and black and blue, from multiple generations and families of children standing […]
Fulfill
Jack Hardaway ] A forgotten old bucket sits outside, dry and full of dust. The rain starts to fall and the bucket slowly fills up until it overflows. Filled full. Fulfilled. The bucket fulfills its obligation, its purpose when it holds water. The Holy Spirit broods over creation at the beginning, creation is fulfilled when […]
Teeming
Jack Hardaway ] My first Bible was a birthday gift from my grandparents, when I turned seven years old. It was an illustrated children’s Bible, The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes, by Kenneth Taylor. I still have it. Mom would read them to me, in the mornings, before I walked to school. We sat […]
Fringe Dwellers
Jack Hardaway ] We are in danger. We are in danger of many things. We are primarily in danger of overdosing on holiness, being deluged in sanctity, overwhelmed by the tidal forces of the Spirit. And we so often miss and misunderstand what is happening all around us and within us. The prophet Isaiah understood, […]
Dry Bones
Jack Hardaway ] What is it about old Rail Road tracks? That shambled, elegant, beauty, and mystery. They have been there for so long. They slowly curve into the distance and disappear behind trees and forgotten green overgrowth. Going somewhere, coming from somewhere, a line across geography, a line through time and history, connecting across […]
There Came a Sound
There came a sound. Can you hear it? Fire spreads. It is an important lesson. A friend of mine had a very dry yard. The grass had turned to brown stubble. He wanted to show his son that you had to be careful with fire during a dry spell, so he demonstrated by lighting a […]
Too Muchness
Have you ever just been kind of stuck? Like a car sunk in the mud down to its axles, spinning the tires, getting nowhere? Nothing like that aroma of hot steaming mud and burnt tire. Those long dark nights. Lots of work, lots of worry, lots of time poured out and nothing to show for […]
Waiting
We adopted this little animal rescue dog from Hartwell last year. It is definitely my wife’s dog. When Susan leaves, Charlie, that’s the little dog’s name, stands by the door waiting, listening watching, full of attention and longing. She just sits there, waiting for Susan to return. Waiting. It is a holy thing. Waiting for […]
Friendship with God
Now that it is planting and growing season it is also time to start getting ready for canning season. Getting all the jars ready, the lids, the rings, the spices, the special salt. It is fun watching a cabinet of clean, empty downturned jars, one by one turned upright and filled with all those colors […]
Muscadine and Jesus Vines
The last frost date has come and gone, two weeks past. Around here that is April 15th. That means it is time to plant. It is time for things to grow, to flower and fruit. I started a new raised bed. We’ve been composting so I added two bins of homemade soil. I planted some […]