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Sabbatical has meant I’ve most been away from Chicago this summer. A few days at home means a quiet morning enjoying my favorite cinnamon roll (laminated dough, raisins) on Medeci’s sidewalk cafe.
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Next up, The Glorians. My first time reading Terry Tempest Williams.
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I lugged this 800 page doorstop to Costa Rica, the Black Hills, and just finished it here in northern Michigan. Worth it! Mostly a romp through primary sources by an expert and playful guide, McCarraher’s case about our collective Mammon-worship is hard to deny.
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From the scorching heat of the Black Hills last week to the fall-like temperatures of Lake Ann, MI. The smoke has dissipated and it’s shaping up to be a perfect day for a bike ride on the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail.
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There are about 250 bighorn sheep living in Badlands National Park and I was fortunate enough to spend a few minutes with this one yesterday morning.
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If you find yourself driving on I-90 between Sioux Falls and Rapid City, ignore the countless billboards for Wall Drug but don’t miss the scenic loop through the Badlands.
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On my last evening at the Wheaton College Field Station I waded into Rapid Creek at dusk to watch the cedar waxwings enjoy their insect dinner over the water. Tomorrow I begin the drive back to Chicago. It’s been a wonderful week!
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It has been hot in the Black Hills this week. This has meant getting out early which, like this morning’s hike to Buzzards Roost, leads to some quiet and beautiful scenes.
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Very glad I thought to bring my folding kayak to the Black Hills. Not pictured: the osprey hanging out on the tree limb about twenty feet above the shore.
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On Saturday I began a leisurely two-day drive to the Black Hills which included a wonderful breakfast with @davoh in Sioux Falls. I’m staying at the Wheaton College Science Station for the week, a beautiful place which offers these sorts of views a mere 20-minute hike from my cabin.
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We spent a few hours at Catarata El Salto yesterday morning before returning to our rental home where five macaws were noshing on the beach almond tree next door.
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Costa Rica’s national parks are spectacular. Yesterday we arrived early to Manuel Antonio and beat the crowds and today I about had Carara to myself… aside from a troop of monkeys and a whole bunch of birds.
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Another stops-you-in-your-tracks morning on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast.
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After two wonderful weeks staying with the Casa Adobe community, this morning our family made the drive to Costa Rica’s Pacific coast and our little beachside home for the next week.
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A 9-hour layover in Miami was a good reason to spend some time exploring Little Havana: a delicious Central American breakfast, a perfectly balanced cigar enjoyed in the shop where it was rolled, and a refreshing cup of freshly squeezed papaya-watermelon juice. Now southbound to Costa Rica with the Florida Keys receding in the distance.
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Wearing my A Rocha USA hat while watering the New Community Outreach gardens. Love that I get to support these two incredible organizations!
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Paddled my new folding kayak about an hour south from our neighborhood beach. Now enjoying some day-off reading with the Chicago skyline as a backdrop.
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We Are Not Helpless: “As we reclaim our God-desired agency over the small decisions, gentle words, and generous actions which make up a human life, we find that we are not as helpless before the systems of violence as we were led to believe.”
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Church folks: Is there any way your pastor could use AI for sermon preparation that would be OK with you?
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I recently had the privilege of preaching for a seminary commencement. I spoke about the temptation of relevancy pastors face. “A Christianity that has appropriated the tools of consumer capitalism expects measurable and impressive results from its ministers.”
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After the stillness of winter, it’s always such a lift to hear the birdsong return to Jackson Park. Thanks to the ruby-crowned kinglets, white-throated sparrows, yellow-rumped warblers, and all the others who joined me for my walk this morning.
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The Crowd Has Departed: To those who value efficiency and power, the work we’ve given ourselves to will typically appear foolish and weak.
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Such a gift to spend the weekend in beautiful Seattle, but I’m glad to be home for a walk through Jackson Park to welcome back migrators like these yellow-rumped and palm warblers.
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Against Inevitability: “But if inevitabilism is an invention than it isn’t inevitable. Altman’s version of utopia isn’t a foregone conclusion, even if his investors want us to think it is.”
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Jesus doesn’t need our weapons: “The problem with a vision of a violent Jesus who justifies our warmongering is not that it makes our Savior too powerful; it makes him weak, embarrassingly weak.”
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