God. Isaiah describes buds and flowers and singing hills and clapping trees, and people walking into the middle of it with joy and peace. And we think about it for a moment and say, “That would be nice.” We sigh. And then we turn from the Bible app to the Facebook app, and we are lost in […]

Last week, I talked about a prayer writing assignment I’ll be giving in a pastoral care course. My friend Andy takes suggestions like that seriously, and wrote a series of prayers for particular situations. He sent them to me in Messenger. I asked if I could share them. He said I could. And so I […]

Last week, I wrote about a prayer assignment I’m creating for a class I’m teaching. I wrote about public prayer in “God. We Need You.”: A Year of Prayer in a Hospital Chapel +++ When I started as a hospital chaplain, I didn’t write out my prayers. I’m from a tradition that is more spontaneous. […]

More from Rich Dixon: +++ My conversation with Carbondale athletes wasn’t really about sports. “How do you know if you won a game?” They pointed at the scoreboard. “Who knows which team won?” They hesitated. Finally, someone replied, “Everyone. Read the score.” “Of course. Everyone knows. Now, a tougher one. “How do you know if […]

I don’t do fine wood-working. I do functional wood-working. And on my birthday, I built the simple shelf I needed for piles of papers. Since I’m a piler. The upright is from a player piano that was hauled out of the basement of a house down the street. In pieces. The top shelf is from […]