The Beginning It all started long ago. Cold, wet, busy, and rushed - the world swam with moving objects next to large machines. Somewhere in the grey city - the Sanctuary stood - beautiful and full of flickering lights. I'm not sure what happened that day, but it happen. Mercy poured out over my soul. It stood, and it cried for me. My heart lived in my throat, and…

Our son, Derek, who lives with us, went to the animal shelter eighteen years ago in order to rescue a couple kittens. The big, beautiful gray and white kitten who ran up and licked his hand when he tried to pet him was a shoo in to come to our home, but so was the tiny frightened black kitty mewling and crying the back corner of the cage. She…

Job, after all his suffering said, “Let the Almighty answer me!” Stephen, as they were about to drag him from the city and stone him, told them, “Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the…

Are we going to heaven? I’m pretty sure my wife is. Is she going to see a bright white light when it’s time to go? How long will she be in the portal before it dumps her onto a golden sidewalk or maybe an impossibly white cloud? Will she still have hair? Body fluids and functions? A body??? As a kid, I had a mental image of a horizon…

I was outside with my son just hanging out in our backyard when I spotted a bumble bee on the gravel. The bee was struggling to walk and seemed unable to fly away. It was a sad sight. After a few minutes, the bee was still in the same spot, but seemed to have given up the fight. I picked him up with a leaf and put him on…

I love the band Jars of Clay. My aunt gave me their album If I Left The Zoo when it came out, but I didn’t really listen to it for a couple years. When I did actually listen to it, I loved it. The melodies are catchy, and it was different from any other Christian band I had listened to before. I have listened to everything they’ve done since…

I was going to write about an elaborate metaphor that included me cutting my finger. Instead, I decided to express gratitude to everyone in this amazing community and tell the villagers who I haven’t had the opportunity to talk to much a little bit about me. I have probably the most common name in the USA. John Henry Smith. I was born in Amarillo, TX and grew up on…

The summer of my first grade year, my family moved from Tucson Arizona to Miami Arizona. Miami is small mining town on your way to Roosevelt Lake. Often its residents just refer to it as the arm pit of Arizona, or maybe that’s just the people who lived there once and have managed to escape the small town. For me, living in Miami (or as my little brother used…

My wife is awesome. Friends of mine on Facebook would know that because I often post things that reveal her awesomeness. Sometimes those things are pointing out the funny and quirky things that she does or says. Sometimes those things show the beautiful ways she engages her family and friends. What you may not know is how much she means to me. What you may not know is how…

"My wife told me to stop acting like a flamingo. - So I had to put my foot down." Ryan, Corey, Keith and I went backpacking for 3 days and 2 nights. We enjoyed letting our hair down and being a bunch of goofballs :) I am glad that I didn't get hurt on an old piece of metal that I fell near. I am thankful for the trip…

Old deceptions Whisper and roar across generations and milliseconds; Invisibly thread through heritage and culture; Shrewdly justify judgments and convictions; Subtly inform addictions and missions. Rabbi of lies spins intricate narrative so visceral; How can reality bear out anything else? Words of life Subversively battle power with enduring love and self-sacrifice; Delicately woo from compulsive ruts with created beauty and reflected glory; Gently conquer shame and contempt with grace…

This Friday, October 11, I'll find out whether or not I passed the Arizona Bar Exam. I'll get to scan the alphabetized list of every name of every person who got the required score and if I see my name, I can become an attorney. It's a moment that is the culmination of years of work and pain. The stress of studying for the bar was intense and real.…

So, I was working behind the soundboard, not really paying attention apparently ... This songs starts out with a beautiful guitar beat that I got lost in - I still get lost in it - as I just enjoy it so much. As I was enjoying this guitar beat in the original recording, after the song started and was well underway, I noticed Eric walk over and slide microphone…

Ok some roughly formulated thoughts not too ‘churched up’ as reuben would say: I’ve been thinking a lot lately what it means for the Village to be accessible and inclusive even as we grow. For years, many Village parties or events included a church wide invite. Baby showers were often co-Ed and an opportunity to have everyone come together. Not everything was all inclusive, but many things were. Lately,…

Almost a year ago, I crafted a video to go along with the Books of the Bible song that Susan Cepin recorded. As new Villagers, Eric asked me to create a video for the kid vespers. This is the first video that I made for the Village. I started to put this video together at my first art night at the Village and then I continued to finish it…

What once was verdant green turns fiery orange, crimson red, then slowly browns to death, unties from living bonds, lets go sustaining branches drifts softly to the ground, lies quiet in the darkened mud among those gone before.  All is lost in crumpled mire.  Blades and veins and midribs disappear amid the roots, degrade, decline, decay.  Soon they are no more, just dirt returning to the dirt.   No…