The 60-Second Sabbath

transformation

  • Invitation 2

    TodayI invite youto welcome the Encounterand not hide from it. Text and image © 2014 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • Convergence

    In the center of the villageseven dusty paths converge. An old man livesin a thatched hut that standsjust to the West. He watches and listensas each travelercompletes the journey. Older than the forest,more patient than the ocean,more stately than cranes,he… Continue reading

  • Hell?

    If Christ descended into hell(as our creeds profess),well,it can hardly be hell any more,can it? How could hell be any placewhere Christ has visited? Such is the transformative powerof the Christ-encounter;what wasis no more. No less with you. Text and… Continue reading

  • Epiphany, 2013

    It is the nature of epiphaniesto catch one off-guard,like an unanticipated camera flashin a darkened room. Epiphaniesstartle–startle us out of our minds,out of our wrong minds,into our authentic minds,    the ones from which    we could live    with… Continue reading

  • Credo

    Sleep in the dark awarenessof God as God is–unknowable, waiting, ready. Here we find faith.    Here we lose self.        Here we become love. Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • The Call

    Why do we focuson what divides us? Instead ask,"What is itin this other faiththat is admirableand reflects our shared values?" No one asks usto forsake what makes us unique;but God calls us (now, right now)to heal the worldthrough our commonalites.… Continue reading

  • Transfiguration

    When Jesus was transfigured on the mountain,he wasn't changed,nor was he transformed;he was revealed. We, too, are called to transfiguration,not to be changed,nor to be transformed,but to be seen as we truly are. And who is it you truly are?Child… Continue reading

  • The Cathedral

    In this foreign, colonial square,amid fountains and pigeons,a sudden rainherds us to sanctuaryin the silent narthexof the town's old cathedral. Instantlywe transform from tourists to penitents–hushed, awed, immortal. Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • Advent 1

    I hear the blareof ancient, dented, tarnished trumpets:judgment day? Am I ready? "Relax," says God,"These mothballed tootersannounce reconciliation (not punishment),healing (not diagnosis),transformation (not exposure),a massive promotion (not downsizing).These honks haul y'all heavenward." With a grin as wide as all creationand… Continue reading

  • Transformational Exchange

    I propose a new business–a worldwide franchise–where, at any time,you stop in to tradeyour ideologyfor dialogue. Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.    Continue reading