Friendship, Listening, and Empathy: A Prayer GuideDraw Near: A Lenten Devotional Two Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian LifeSabbath Keeping: Finding Freedom in the Rhythms of Rest Fasting: Spiritual Freedom Beyond our AppetitesA Renewed SpiritualityNurturing Hope: Christian Pastoral Care in the Twenty-First CenturyThe Power of ListeningJoy Together: Spiritual Practices for Your CongregationPrayers of the New TestamentPrayers of the Old TestamentPersonality Type in CongregationsSabbathA Garden of Living Water: Stories of Self-Discovery and Spiritual GrowthDead Sea: A NovelDeadly Murmurs: A NovelDeath in Dunedin: A NovelBeating Burnout in CongregationsReaching Out in a Networked WorldEmbracing MidlifeFriendingAdvent Devotional

Draw near: Praying about what we are looking for

Lynne Baab • Tuesday January 24 2023

Draw near: Praying about what we are looking for

Lutheran Bishop Michael Rinehart once got three speeding tickets in a year. The state where he lived, Iowa, required that he take a defensive driving course. At the end of the second class, the instructor asked to talk with him for a few minutes. The conversation that Bishop Rinehart describes is both amusing and thought-provoking.

     “Why are you here?” he asked.      “Because I got three speeding tickets.”      “No, really, why are you here?” It was an existential question. I wasn’t sure how to answer. “Where are you going in such a hurry?”      “Well, the first time I was going to ....

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Draw near: Praying about ambition

Lynne Baab • Tuesday January 17 2023

Draw near: Praying about ambition

“Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. I can say for one that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem.” —Abraham Lincoln, age 23, running for his first political office in 1832

Apart from the frustrating fact that people 150 years ago used “men” to refer to people, what do you think about Abraham Lincoln’s words? Is he describing a perspective that is consistent with Christian values because he focuses on developing an admirable character? Is he looking too strongly to people around him to...

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Draw near: Praying to be like water

Lynne Baab • Tuesday January 10 2023

Draw near: Praying to be like water

I have always loved water. We lived in Athens, Greece when I was 2 and 3. My dad was assigned to the American Embassy there, and my mom took me to the beach almost every day. She tells me I paddled around in an area for kids, using an inflatable ring. Later I learned to swim, and I still remember those incredible moments of deep peace when I would let myself hang suspended under water. No pressure to be a perfect daughter! No pressure to conform to standards I didn’t understand! Just silence, my body in held in balance by the...

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Draw near: Loosening our grip

Lynne Baab • Tuesday January 3 2023

Draw near: Loosening our grip

In her book Prayers in the Night, Rev. Tish Harrison Warren writes about the ways we relinquish control when we sleep. However, she notes that “our bodies and brains are not inactive in sleep. A whole world of activity happens inside our heads. We dream. We fight illness. We form, sort, and strengthen memories from our days.” Then she continues:

“And crucially, all of this happens without our knowledge, consent, or control. Our bodies require us to loosen our grip on self-sufficiency and power if we are to thrive. Both physically and spiritually, then, we must be willing to embrace vulnerability if...

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Featured books

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Meeting God in Grief and Gratitude

Lynne Baab • Wednesday January 22 2025

By Lynne M. Baab, author of Two Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian Life

Nurturing a contemplative stance for navigating challenging times

Lynne Baab • Friday August 11 2023

By Lynne M. Baab

Yes, Jesus Told Us to Pray in Secret. But He Also Prayed with His Friends.

Lynne Baab • Saturday October 9 2021

By Lynne M. Baab. Originally published in Christianity Today, July 8, 2021