Wayfarer

As a student of history, I can tell you that public shaming, scapegoating, and what today we call "cancelling" have been around as long as human civilization. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 130. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

In the quiet this morning, I find myself confessing that there are a host of human experiences that I can't completely fathom because I haven't experienced them myself, but that doesn't mean I can't seek to understand, to empathize, and to learn lessons from the experience of others. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 129. The text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Wendy and I were so blessed this past Christmas to have the kids and Milo home. As always, meals were an important part of the family agenda from cocktails through dessert. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 128. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

When I was a young man, I embarked on a fact-finding mission to better understand my families of origin. What I discovered was that underneath the veneer of stories that I'd been told (the good, polite, and acceptable ones) there was a whole lot of mess. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 127. Text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

In the quiet this morning, I find myself reflecting on the highs and lows of this life journey. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 126. Text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

I have found that the spiritual truths that God wove into creation increasingly come into focus and gain clarity as my eyes weaken and my vision fades with age. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 125. Text version can always be found at tomvanderwell.com .

I have experienced that the breaking of certain traditions has been a spiritually healthy thing for me personally. I have also found that rediscovering lost traditions, that may have needed to go away for a time, can be equally as healthy to my spiritual journey. A chapter-a-day podcast on Psalm 124. Text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

There were different songs of ascent for the different seasons of life each spiritual wayfarer might be in on the repeated journey to and from Jerusalem. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 123. Text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

His mission was not to change the kingdoms of this world, but to instill the Kingdom of God into the hearts of individuals, that I might bring that Kingdom into the human systems in which I interact every day. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 122. Text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

In the quiet this morning, I am reminded by the lyrics of this song that sometimes I need words of assurance and affirmation along this life journey. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 121. Text version can always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

One summer in my youth, I worked in the cornfields. I will always remember it as the summer that I learned about work songs. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 120. Text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com . 

Making the Great Story a part of my daily life hasn't made me perfect or pure, but the Great Shepherd has always used it to find this lost sheep and call me back to the fold. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 119. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Music plays such a fascinating role in the human experience. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 118. Text version can always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Along my life journey, I have observed that we humans like to reduce very complex questions into simple binary boxes and choices. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 117. Text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Brood is actually an interesting word because the most common definition in the English language means "to sit on" and "incubate" as a mother hen sits on her eggs. What an apt word picture for what I can do with a conflict or crisis. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 116. Text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Along my life journey, I've seen tremendous change. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 115. Text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

Along my journey, I have experienced discord and division among any number of groups to which I belonged. This includes family, churches, community organizations, and most recently, a nation. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 114. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

There are two themes in the Great Story that I have repeatedly mentioned across the 15 years I've been writing these chapter-a-day posts, and they are beautifully present in today's chapter, Psalm 113. They are, however, easily missed by the casual reader. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 113. Text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com

Many years ago, as my life was emerging from the ash heap I had made of it, I happened upon today's chapter, Psalm 112. I remember reading the lyrics to this ancient Hebrew song and realizing that it described the person I want to become and to be on this earthly journey. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 112. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

The further I get in my journey the more I appreciate the fact that the most important and profound of spiritual truth is found not in seminary classes but in the simple instructional songs of children. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 111. Text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

In the mystery of Melchizedek, I'm reminded that faith requires of me the humility to accept that there are truths that lie in mystery. They are deeper, older, and unfathomable this side of eternity. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 110. Text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

I thought he was my friend, and I continue to believe that he truly was at one time. I’m not sure when the smile became a lie. I’m not sure when our conversations became reconnaissance for his operational purposes to hurt me. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 109. The text version may be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

In my life, I have found change to be really difficult for people in almost any circle of life. When you mix in both change and religious tradition it can take on an added layer of emotion. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 108. The text version may always be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

In the quiet this morning, I'm seeing the pattern. Out of darkness into the light. Up from the valley to the mountaintop. Return from exilic adversity to the blessing of finding myself safe at home. This is the Great Story. It's life's story. It's my story, too. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 107. Text version may always found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .

In the quiet this morning I find myself thinking about my own journey which includes holy moments that occurred both on spiritual mountain tops and sinful, dark valleys. A chapter-a-day podcast from Psalm 106. Text version can be found and shared at tomvanderwell.com .