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Draw near: Contrasts

Lynne Baab • Tuesday November 15 2022

Steadfast God, The idols of the age are glitter and dust, but you are my rock. The idols of the mind are appearance and mirage, but you are my rock. The idols of the marketplace are in or out of fashion, but you are my rock. The idols of this age collapse when people lean on them, but you are my rock. I have awakened to a new day and want to put this day in your hands. I want to think with your thinking, wish with your wishing, and strive with your striving. —Cornelius Plantinga, Morning and Evening Prayers, page 34

I gave you some prayers last week from a...

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Quotations I love: Action plus character

Lynne Baab • Thursday January 14 2021

For this opening post in a new series, I want to juxtapose two quotations that seem to me to be relevant for our time. I’ll note that this isn’t totally a new series. Back in 2015, I wrote posts about 16 quotations I love. I’ll put links to a few of them at the end of this post.

Here are the two quotations I invite you to ponder this week. Notice the similar dates of the two men:

“I prayed for 20 years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.” —Frederick Douglas (1818-1895), on escaping slavery

“Whatever we are ... married or...

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Contrasts: Engaging in spiritual practices because of grace or guilt

Lynne Baab • Thursday June 14 2018

I’ve been speaking and writing about the Sabbath for more than a decade, but I recently had an aha experience about Sabbath keeping in my life and its connection to other spiritual practices.

Much of my speaking and writing about spiritual practices flows out of my own Sabbath observance. The Sabbath taught me how spiritual practices work: we know God loves us, so we set up structures in our lives to draw near to this God of abundant blessings.

When we were young adults, my husband and I lived in Israel for 18 months. Our apartment was in a Jewish neighborhood in Tel Aviv, so...

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Contrasts: Guests and hosts

Lynne Baab • Saturday June 9 2018

Two people meet a stranger on a road. As they walk together, the stranger gives them a new perspective on the Hebrew Scriptures. When they arrive at their home, they invite the stranger in for a meal.

At the meal, the stranger picks up bread, breaks it and hands it to the other two. In that moment, the stranger is revealed to be Jesus.

In the Road to Emmaus story (Luke 24:13-35), a guest at the meal – a stranger – briefly becomes the host, the Lord Jesus Christ. People who write and teach about hospitality call this the guest-host shift, and this...

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