paravanes:meditations

In past years, I have thought of   “back to school”   time as a time to return to routines. This year, after reading DeliberateLIFE’S back to school issue, I am thinking more about transformation, rethinking routines, and beginning a familiar process in a new way. Getting ready for back-to-school in a new way means understanding I don’t know this process of shopping, planning, arranging for after-school schedules, etc., as well as I imaged. As a college student, I chose the liberal arts because I was fully committed to lifelong learning and learning for its own sake. What did I learn from reading this back-to-school issue? I learned paper bags aren’t a green, earth-wise choice. They contribute to the tons of food and food packaging waste slowly burying the earth we live on and (hopefully) love. Sleek, efficient, and yes---cute—alternatives are available for packing those lunches and sending them off to school. I learned I don’t have to put aside all of my ...

From Micah 6:11-16: “Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales and with a bag of deceitful weights? Your rich men are full of violence; your inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their month. Therefore I strike you with a grevious blow, making you desolate because of your sins. You shall eat, but not be satisfied, and there shall be hunger within you; You shall put away, but not preserve, and what you preserve I will give to the sword. You shall sow, but not reap; you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil; You shall tread grapes, but not drink wine. For you have kept the statutes of Omri, and all the works of the house of Ahab; and you have walked in their counsels, that I may make you a desolation, and your inhabitants a hissing; so shall you bear the scorn of my people.” If you have read the Old Testament, you will recognize the names of Omri and Ahab as kings who disrespected and disregarded God’s rules and guide...