Lynne Baab • Wednesday October 9 2024
Think back on the first two weeks of January, perhaps this year or a past year. After the celebrations on New Year’s Eve and whatever pattern you have for New Year’s Day, what happens next for you? Do you settle easily back into work after the holidays? Do you kick yourself around for eating too much in those food-filled days between Thanksgiving and New Year’s? Do you start a diet or recommit to an exercise plan?
I wonder how many cultures have a period of intentional reflection right after celebrating the New Year. The Jewish High Holidays, a cluster of holy days...
Read full article »Lynne Baab • Thursday October 3 2024
Because Rosh Hashanah is this week, I’ve been pondering New Year’s celebrations. God created us and placed us on this beautiful earth with rhythms of day and night as well as the rhythms of seasons. I wonder if yearly rhythms are imprinted in us, and we feel a need to mark one place in the yearly cycle as an end and beginning. I wonder if we need New Year’s celebrations to nudge us to reflect on the past and experience hope for the future with others.
Of course, January 1 or Rosh Hashanah are not the only New Year’s celebrations. Many New...
Read full article »Lynne Baab • Wednesday September 25 2024
Michaelmas daisies bloom in the fall and come in various shades of purple, pink, and white. I first heard about Michaelmas daisies in a novel set in England that I read as a young adult. At that time, I thought “Michaelmas” was an odd name for a fall-blooming daisy. I had no idea Michaelmas is a day in the church calendar, originally celebrating the archangel Michael. Later, two other archangels, Gabriel and Raphael, were added to the day.
Michaelmas is observed in Western Christianity on September 29 and on November 8 for Christians in the Eastern traditions. The suffix “mas” comes from...
Read full article »Lynne Baab • Tuesday September 17 2024
Sturdy, spreading oak trees. Tall evergreens. Lacy Japanese maples with hints of red and orange. Drooping flowering cherries. Spiky palms. Hillsides covered with deep green trees. An individual tree in winter, bare branches dusted with snow.
Creator God, we praise you for trees. We remember moments when trees have lifted our hearts. We also think of wood studs and joists that provide form for our dwellings, and we thank you for the beauty and utility of trees.
Oil slicks on puddles, and oil leaks into rivers and lakes. The residue left by car tires, washed by rain into streams and rivers, damaging salmon...
Read full article »Lynne Baab • Friday August 11 2023
By Lynne M. BaabLynne Baab • Sunday June 26 2022
Making Space for a Continuing Conversation with the Living GodLynne Baab • Saturday October 9 2021
By Lynne M. Baab. Originally published in Christianity Today, July 8, 2021
Lynne M. Baab, Ph.D., is an author and adjunct professor. She has written numerous books, Bible study guides, and articles for magazines and journals. Lynne is passionate about prayer and other ways to draw near to God, and her writing conveys encouragement for readers to be their authentic selves before God. She encourages experimentation and lightness in Christians spiritual practices. Read more »
Lynne is pleased to announce the release of her two 2024 books, both of them illustrated with her talented husband Dave's watercolors. She is thrilled at how good the watercolors look in the printed books, and in the kindle versions, if read on a phone, the watercolors glow. Friendship, Listening and Empathy: A Prayer Guide guides the reader into new ways to pray about the topics in the title. Draw Near: A Lenten Devotional guides the reader to a psalm for each day of Lent and offers insightful reflection/discussion questions that can be used alone or in groups.
Another recent book is Two Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian Life, available in paperback, audiobook, and for kindle. Lynne's 2018 book is Nurturing Hope: Christian Pastoral Care for the Twenty-First Century, and her most popular book is Sabbath-Keeping: Finding Freedom in the Rhythms of Rest (now available as an audiobook as well as paperback and kindle). You can see her many other book titles here, along with her Bible study guides.
You can listen to Lynne talk about these topics: empathy, bringing spiritual practices to life. Sabbath keeping for recent grads., and Sabbath keeping for families and children.
Lynne was interviewed for the podcast "As the Crow Flies". The first episode focuses on why listening matters and the second one on listening skills.
Here are two talks Lynne gave on listening (recorded in audio form on YouTube): Listening for Mission and Ministry and Why Listening Matters for Mission and Ministry.
"Lynne's writing is beautiful. Her tone has such a note of hope and excitement about growth. It is gentle and affirming."
— a reader
"Dear Dr. Baab, You changed my life. It is only through God’s gift of the sabbath that I feel in my heart and soul that God loves me apart from anything I do."
— a reader of Sabbath Keeping
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