This exchange between Jesus and the disciples, found in Mark 8:27-33 grabbed my attention tonight. In this era when “ministry” often consists of platform-building and brand-creating, I noticed how Jesus chose to respond during one of those time-stands-still moments when he could have told his disciples to use the planks of his ministry to build…

At first glance, you might think that Carol Rottman’s All Nature Sings: A Spiritual Journey of Place (Credo House, 2010) is a pretty coffee table book. Leaf through the 160 pages, and you’ll see dozens of arresting images of the flora and fauna (and occasional critter) surrounding her rural western Michigan property. But settle into…

When I was in sixth grade, a teacher divided the three or four classes by gender. One of the teachers came into the girls’ room and gave us a talk about our changing bodies and a sample box of mattress-sized Kotex sanitary napkins. It wasn’t quite the rite of passage at which other cultures seem…

My dad Harry Marks, circa mid-1950’s or so, with his mom (my grandma), Leah Marks. She was generous and loved my sister and I with an intensity I understand now that I’m a grandma. The last time I saw her alive, she had taken a bus all over Peoria, IL in search of ingredients to…

I hadn’t seen her in about fifteen years, but last Saturday morning, we picked up right where we’d left off. Our family’s departure from the church we’d both attended and our subsequent move to WI pushed our once-active friendship into a dormant state. I was so surprised to click on an e-mail from her a…

Has something like this ever happened to you? – My Bible reading plan just started me reading the Gospel of Mark.– They’ve just begun preaching through the Gospel of Mark at church.– I’ve just begun a freelance writing assignment that has me working through the Gospel of Mark. Some would dismiss this confluence of Scripture…