Photography
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Unsolicited Advice
There is a Japanese proverb that suggests, "Don't give others what they don't want." How often haven't I done this? I recall the sermons I've preached, the classes I've taught, the workshops I've lead, the articles I've written… In retrospect,… Continue reading
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Quick Storm
I'm walking homeat the end of a my work daythrough the frozen streets of the city.Snow starts,then the wind.Within the space of a few blocks,it becomes a storm. I come to the park's edgeand the the vast openness–a quarter-mile crossingunsheltered… Continue reading
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It’s Christmas!
It happened. Invited or not,God is with us, beside us,before us,beneath us,behind us, within us. Glory!It's Christmas! Text and image © 2010 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading
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Jingle Bells
I have this memory of a church Christmas party when I was a child. The kids were invited to call out carols they wanted to sing. One boy shouted, "Jingle Bells." There was this moment of awkward silence, after which… Continue reading
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Christmas Greetings
"May you allow room for God to speak this holiday season." "May you draw close to God–and God draw close to you–this Christmas." My final Christmas card had been sent when I discovered these two lines in an old journal… Continue reading
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On a Snowy Night
I walk through my neighborhood on a snowy night a few days before Christmas, mulling over life and just wondering (as in, feeling wonder-struck) at the decorations and lights. Every now and then something I see triggers specific memories from my childhood, like the… Continue reading
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Bring It On
Advent means coming.The Promise on the way.Salvation crouching, encroaching.Deliverance, peace, joy slinking behind Home Depot, the tree, the punch bowl, ready to spring on us. I wait. I open and sit in silence.I settle into awareness.I allow space for Love.I relinquish my grasp, ready… Continue reading
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Blessing Tree
In 2002, the Christmas after my mom died (two years after my dad died and four years after my sister died), I did something uncharacteristically Dirk; I decorated my tree in stages: I assembled it one night, then put the… Continue reading
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God Speaks Simply
God said: You do not speak for me.I speak simply; you do not. Twitter of sparrows,creak of tall trees,hiss of blown snow,scrape of dry leaves,silence of stars. Laugh of a child,sigh of a lover,touch of a friend. I speak simply.… Continue reading
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Core Word #7: Awareness
Anthony de Mello wrote a potent little book titled Awareness. Do not read this book. If you read this book, you will be picked up, shaken out, and dropped several feet from where you started. You will most certainly be… Continue reading