Defending the Faith
and a snowy owl
THIS SUNDAY at 10:30am
The amazing Kathy Khang and I will be preaching at West Hills Covenant church in Portland, OR. We would LOVE to see you!
Every once in a while I share a bit of my writing that has never found a home anywhere. This is a little prose poem thingy that I think of pretty often, and share online occasionally. I was thinking of it again this week, and thought I’d share it here.
Defending the Faith
A certain man set off into the wide world to defend God, to keep God's word pure, and to punish those who wandered from the Way. He was well regarded, and celebrated among God's people for his bravery, his courage, his strong arm and his sharp tongue.
In time, he heard of an old heretic woman who lived at the top of a jagged mountain, and he went to find her and convert her or, failing that, destroy her.
The old woman greeted him at her modest cottage door. She did not mention his fine horse or the silk tunic he wore. Her calm eyes did not waver when he showed her the blade of his sword. Instead, she invited him to tea.
They sat at her humble table, together, he somewhat surprised and awkward, a small cup of tea warming the palms of his hands.
"Why have you come?" she asked.
"To defend God," he said.
"It must be sad," she said, "to have a God so weak he needs your defense. My God is a roaring flame, a savage whirlwind, a still small voice after a mighty earthquake."
"I have come," said he, "to defend God's Word."
"God spoke and there was light. Can I speak darkness into being? His words are stronger than ours. Truth is discovered, not defended."
His face darkened. "I have come to punish those who have wandered from the Way."
She did not answer for a long time.
At last she put her wrinkled hands over his. "You have punished yourself long enough. Rest a while, and come home."
#BIRDFACTS
A rare snowy owl has been hanging out in Cypress, a suburb of Los Angeles.
Snowy owls usually like to hang out where there is, uh, snow. They’re arctic birds, that usually don’t come much further south than Oregon. So to see one in California, let alone southern California, is a big surprise. Birders have been driving from all over to see the owl, which was doing things like standing on buildings and flying around.
Anyway, the little guy took off on Monday and they haven’t seen him since, which has left folks in the neighborhood a little sad, except for the mice-folk who have said they feel, “relieved” and also “please keep your cats inside the house, they are actual murderers.”
Praying with St. Patrick
Here’s a fun little video giving you a sneak preview of my next book, coming out in a few weeks!
Bruce! Bruce! Bruce!
After a week of snow and ice, Bruce was pretty happy for a bit of sunshine and seemed quite content on the back porch soaking it in.
He was also pretty content catching a quick nap in the living room.
Is the boy ever awake? Sure! Here’s a picture of him looking at me from his dinner plate, wondering if I might like to put more food on his dinner plate that he also could eat in anticipation of, perhaps, even more food on his dinner plate.
This week if you find a nice spot of sunlight, take some advice from Bruce and close your eyes and enjoy it for a few minutes.
Peace to you,
Matt