1. The beauty of Brennan Manning’s memoir is how it rings with the same tones of all the biblical “heroes.” It’s not pretty. The failures are stark. And the grace of the Gospel takes center stage.
2. I am truly afraid God has placed me in a situation where I must existentially deal with the propositions of my own book. Sometimes I can laugh about this. But often it is a very dark thought.
3. My weekend came with all the emotion of a vacation, which is nice because I’ll get another next week.
4. My social media feeds have devolved into a constant discussion of race and pornography wrapped in a Buzzfeed style of Christianity with numbered lists churning out new laws for us and everyone else to break.
5. I’m glad I’ve relearned the simple joy of opening a pack of baseball cards.
6. Please stop trying to write like Ann Voskamp.
7. I want my kids to experience grace and not the well-oiled machine of American moral religion. But I’m not sure how to do that apart from communicating forgiveness even more than the rules.
8. There are a lot reasons I enjoy the music of Van Morrison. The lack of politics and social issues is not the least of reasons.
9. It’s normal to look forward to the weekend and buying baseball cards, right?
10. I would rather fail at life in the eyes of the watching world and be with my wife than enjoy all that is considered success. I’d rather do without, with her.
Echoes and Stars 
For me, I love the simple joys of clipping recipes and reading mysteries and science fiction. For my husband and me, now that the kids are out of the house, when he gets home, rather late, we sit in our recliner chairs, side by side, eating a late dinner and watching shows like Downton Abbey and Star Trek. The pugs sit on our laps and we all unwind.
Today I am mourning the death of Leonard Nimoy. They couldn’t kill off his character but his human body wasn’t as blessed. I became a Christian at the age of 17 during an episode of Star Trek. Spock, Bones and Kirk were on the bridge. So, I started my Christian life while enjoying Spock. he lived long and prospered.
Enjoyed your post!
Fridays and opening packs of baseball cards tie together for me. I remember back when I was in elementary school that lunch was 90 cents and somehow I could get a pack of baseball cards for a dollar, so every other Friday I would take my saved up dimes and stop on the walk home for a pack of cards.
That’s a nice piece of nostalgia. The sports media would like to remind me that most of the good cards I pulled out of those packs probably pictured a bunch of ‘roided up cheaters.
Matt:
Some good thoughts today but I think the last was the best.
Do they still have a sheet of bubble gum with the baseball cards like they did when I was a kid ?
Nope. No gum these days.
Please tell me if you figure out #7. But don’t tell the story like #6. He will give you strength for #2 if that is what’s required. But most likely moment-by-moment, or day-by-day, since His power is made perfect in our weakness. So…it’s good you have #3, #5, #9, and especially #10.
Perfect