I have poor eyes And always have. Both near and far away, Things blur into an indistinct haze. Corrective lenses offer a crisp clarity When I slide my glasses on. But I have never been […]
Category: Life
Counting our days
I think about my death a lot. I imagine what it might be like to be on my death bed, so weak I need a machine to breathe for me. I wonder who might gather […]
Nuclear fear
They shut down the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant today. Yesterday, my son toured a completed but never turned on nuclear power plant in Washington. The reason it was never turned on? The fear […]
Practicing attentiveness
I’m finishing a couple-month break from blogging, giving myself some space and time from the overly inward exercise of writing. I needed to get out of myself and focus on the outward aspects of life. […]
The twilight of my fathers: Eugene Peterson and my Dad
Those who know me know there are two men who have most shaped my life. They are my father, Hugo Santucci, and my mentor, Eugene Peterson. These two men have shown me what a life […]
Good motives, bad compromises
I’m a pretty well-intentioned person and I’m guessing you are too. Our motives are almost always pointing in the right direction. We want what’s good for others and ourselves. The problem is how we get […]
Innocence & guilt & the only satisfaction for suffering
Where does the line between innocence and guilt lie? In some regards, we’re all complicit in this interwoven world, where a bargain buy at Target is made by sweat shop labor in Cambodia. And in […]
The magic of technology & the dissatisfied life
The more humans have become enamored with technology, the more we’ve become enamored with magic. The two are actually the same thing: A desire to control and change our circumstances. Contrary to popular belief, the […]
Some things are better broken
Some things are better broken. It’s being broken that makes some things what they are, and I’m not just talking about the eggs in an omelet. The armless Venus de Milo is one of the […]
The everyday battle
Every day is a battle for the soul. Who will I be today? Will I live graciously as one who knows myself to be deeply and rightly loved? Or will I simple react to circumstance? […]
Thor: Ragnarok & life in America
Marvel Studios has ruled the box office for more than a decade, spinning out movie after movie in the most lucrative franchise since James Bond. At the heart of their financial success, I believe, is […]
Kevin Spacey & the out-of-control life
In the wake of the flood of #MeToo stories of women being abused by men have come a second flood of stories of men being abused by men, with the current trend being stories about […]
The humbling path of growing old
As I watch my parents in their twilight years, I think about the inevitability of my own impending elder age. At 50, I’m still in fairly good shape physically, but I know the decline is […]
Raising #NotMe kids in a #MeToo world
I’ve been saddened over the past few weeks to read the #MeToo stories of women abused by Harvey Weinstein and others. And that sadness has deepened into grief as women I know personally have added […]
17 ways to foster neighborliness
We have lost the art of being neighbors. Our cars have killed it, keeping us from walking our neighborhoods as we jump into them and speed away without talking to anyone. Our phones have killed […]
On turning 50
I’ve been saying the word fairly frequently over the last few months, trying to get my mouth used to it. “Fifty.” It’s got a nice, clean sound to it. It’s not cumbersome like “forty-seven.” And […]
Love is inconvenient
Love is inconvenient. Love is getting up in the middle of the night to clean up a child who has thrown up. Love is driving out of your way to be with a friend for […]
Hugh Hefner, Playboy & the death of sex
I remember the first time I saw a Playboy magazine. I was about 11 and an older neighbor has stolen a copy from the nearby 7-11. Not yet to puberty, it didn’t have the effect […]
The sweet life
I want to live the sweet life, a life I can wake up to each day with joy and expectation, a life that calls me further up and further in. But what makes up the […]
What are you pursuing?
If there is a motto for America, it is simply this: Pursue happiness. It’s sometimes rephrased as “follow your heart” or “follow your dreams,” but the idea is the same. Meaning and direction for life […]
Pruned
I’m someone who likes to keep his options open. I like possibilities. When it’s time to choose, I’ll choose. But in the meantime, I don’t like to limit my options. A friend recently reminded me […]
Asking the “second question”
In every conversation, the first question is a simple connecting question. “What’s your name?” “How’s it going?” “What’s up?” “Nice day today, isn’t it?” “How about those [insert sports team name]?” There’s not a lot […]
Entering life by facing death
Death is all around us. We deal with it almost on a daily basis. All kinds of deaths. Deaths of dreams. Deaths of careers. Deaths of dignity and reputation. Deaths of the body. Deaths of […]
Back to zero
There were Alcoholics Anonymous meetings every day of the week at the church I used to pastor. On three days, there were two meetings, for a total of ten per week. They pretty much owned our […]
The importance of boredom
Something unexpected and disturbing happens quite often when people gather around a loved one who is dying: They get bored. In my work as a part-time hospital chaplain, I’ve seen it many times. In response to […]
There’s no such thing as a balanced life, but there’s something better.
I can balance my checkbook, but I can’t balance my life. It’s impossible. Things in this world just don’t like to stay in balance — just watch my attempts at yoga! Juggling a handful of balls […]
Wonder Woman & the problem of violence
We need strong women in movies and fiction. The helpless, screamy women of far too many movies offer little to the imaginations of girls and boys who see them on their screens — girls who […]
Set your mind on these things
Our minds are marvelous things. How we think shapes who we are and how we live. I’ve come across so many posts and articles by people who’ve had personal Renaissances during a season of Lent […]
Faith works — how faith values work & keeps it from becoming slavery
I find it ironic when someone claims others are #badbible readers while doing bad Bible reading themselves. The Facebook post below is a case in point. The writer is obviously quoting Jesus from Matt. 11:28 […]
Live love. Love life.
If God had a hobby, what would it be? Painting by number? Going to as many Dave Matthews Band concerts as possible? Racing monster trucks? We have a sense from the Bible that God is […]
Tell all the truth, but …
One of my favorite Emily Dickinson poems goes as such: Tell all the truth but tell it slant — Success in Circuit lies Too bright for our infirm Delight The Truth’s superb surprise As Lightning […]
How Lenten fasts help develop different appetites
Lent is one of the least appreciated seasons in the Christian calendar. Being a penitential season, it’s a time of fasting — of saying an emphatic NO! to one particular area of our lives — […]
A sliver of glass in our hearts
In Hans Christian Andersen’s tale The Snow Queen, he tells a series of seven stories. The first of these is about a demon-made mirror which shatters into tiny pieces which are scattered around the world. The pieces fall […]
A bruised reed
Reed had it all together. At least, he tried to. And boy, did he try. Reed had a 4.0 in school and felt all kinds of pressure to keep it perfect. And it was killing […]
A return to neighborliness
I didn’t vote for Donald Trump and I didn’t participate in the Women’s Day marches, but it’s essential to me that I am in neighborly relationships with both sets of people who did. Neighborliness requires […]
Learning to listen
The family was in crisis. A young mother in critical condition. Two small children. Family gathered around her bed, praying for her. Life on the line. Hearts on the line. As I watched this unfold […]
Watching stories or making stories
I am most alive when watching TV (said no one ever). Sitting passively on the sofa while all kinds of action, adventure, creativity, and relational drama unfolds on the screen gives the feeling of living […]
Thanksgiving & its opposite
Sometimes, we understand something best by taking a look at its opposite. And when it comes to living the grateful life, a quick examination of our complaining is revealing. In their classic Saturday Night Live sketches, […]
How to live. How to die.
I don’t talk about death a whole lot. None of us do. And yet it’s always with us. My wife and I started watching a new TV show recently and more than 1,000 people die […]
Fruitless — the empty feel of a bare-branch life
“The image I have of you is of a tree with no fruit on its branches,” she said, words that echoed what I had been feeling for months. I was in the middle of a […]
Leap first
“The intellect is there to instruct us after the act.” — Ray Bradbury A few years ago, I took a flying leap off of a rock high above a river. But I jumped too far out, […]
Telling the truth
I was reading excerpts from a Ryan Adams interview about his upcoming album and came across this gem: “How do I make a real distinct record where anybody listens to it and says, ‘That’s the […]
Unowned
I used to be a Coke guy. I refused to drink Pepsi because Coke was my brand. But then one day, I realized that I had let a soft drink manufacturer own me. I was […]
The joy of farting – the humor and humility of flatulence
When I was in 5th grade, I was the Fart King, the Master of Flatulence. I didn’t know it at the time, but it was a dietary thing. My mom had started putting dried apricots […]
Unorphaned
Sometimes, a single word changes everything. Sometimes, just one word will make me sit up straight and wake up. Bon Ives’s new album 22, A Million is a oddly wonderful blend of sounds and modified vocals […]
Pressing the “do over” button (or, Bring on the Jubilee!)
I turn 49 today. Born 4 October 1967, I’ve been gathering baggage for a long time now. Most of it is good baggage that I gratefully carry around with me. Wonderful life experiences of traveling to […]
Regaining a taste for subtle God flavors in a too-sweet world
Eugene Peterson told me a story about when he was in college. Somehow, he’d landed a job as the personal driver for a wealthy, cantankerous old man who blasted through his days with little appreciation for […]
Where suffering & glory meet
We all know people who tend toward the pessimistic. These gloomy Eeyores are realistic about the hardships of life, but seem to see only obstacles and no opportunities. We also know people who tend toward […]
From checklists to nuanced living
I was recently a part of a large conversation in which a woman talked about her daughter who had recently accomplished the amazing feat of hiking all 53 fourteeners — mountains topping 14,000 feet of elevation […]
Coaching sports & life
In preparation for the upcoming volleyball season, I spent some time jotting down some core values and practices I want my players and their parents to know so that they understand my expectations of them. […]
Feelings vs. reality
My feelings change in the blink of an eye. I’ll be sulky, stuck in a seemingly unshakable mood. But then my phone will buzz and I’ll answer with the perked-up voice of someone who’s on […]
A litany for campers
For the setting up of tents and the lighting of the camp fire, We give thanks to the Lord. For the unceasing murmur of rivers and the cooling of feet therein, We give thanks to […]
In a world against things, what are you for?
As our presidential election cycle continues to heat up, I’m reminded of the challenge a friend of mine posed on Facebook last time around, a challenge that went mostly unanswered. He asked his many Facebook […]
The devil’s #1 tool is …
I fall into all kinds of temptations. Most of them are pretty obvious and lack creativity. Lust. Envy. Sloth. Pride. The typical seven deadly sin stuff. It’s all pretty dull and garden variety. We all […]
A glorious experiment in failure
“All we are saying is give Pete a chance.” The crowd was into it, singing along with the band a cheesy version of John and Yoko’s “All we are saying is give peace a chance.” […]
10 tech commandments for a too-teched world
I am no technophobe. No Luddite, I gladly use by iPhone, my laptop, my car, my table saw, my stereo, my furnace, my dishwasher, and many other tools and devices. But our technology has become […]
3 practices for walking through grief
When my sister was killed by a drunk driver, we were crushed. We were not unique in our pain — many suffer similar sorrows — but we suffered out pain uniquely, as all do. But […]
The importance of anger
Some baristas are sages, masters of coffee and poignant tattoos. A barista at a cafe I used to frequent had a tattoo with the words “the upside of anger” wildly emblazoned on his forearm. And […]
When my son got mugged
When my son called to tell us that he’d been mugged, I was furious. My stomach roiled at the thought of his broken tooth and the stitches his companions had to get. The assailants were […]
The gospel on a mountain bike
The text came last night: “Be ready at 8:30.” It was ominous, but in a promising sort of way. So, morning came. I dressed, took kids to school, and got my bike ready. My friend […]
God in the in-between
We tend to focus on the big events, the landmark moments, the photographable experiences. With our kids, it’s the first day of school, scoring the winning goal, getting baptized, performing in a play, getting dressed […]
Recovering the lost art of friendship
I picked up the phone yesterday and called Steven, a friend of more than two decades. He couldn’t answer right away but called me back as soon as he was free. Now, Steven and I don’t […]
Pain gives definition to life
I celebrate the anniversaries of friends whose marriage survived the dark and harrowing days after his infidelities were discovered. I celebrate the birthdays of the son of friends whose asthma has almost taken down to […]
Living in a world with teeth
God is not afraid of danger, pain, or death. And he’s not afraid of seeing his loved ones on paths that will lead us through all three. In fact, he guarantees that every one of us […]
Or quietly tiptoe away
I make mistakes all the time. We all do. It’s a part of being human. We all get that. And we all get that there are some mistakes that are bigger than others. If I slip and […]
Credit cards, usury & the new slavery
There was a time when usury was a punishable offense. Now, it is business as usual. And it has created a whole new form of slavery called massive credit card debt. Usury is the over-charging […]
What brands do you label yourself with?
As my volleyball team gathered around me for the beginning of practice, one of my players said to me, “Hey, coach, everything I’m wearing is Nike.” She was proud to be a Nike girl, but […]
Ask more questions
My purpose in life is to ask questions. I was with some friends at our Table group recently, considering a passage from John’s gospel. After we’d made a number of observations about the passage, I said […]
I hope this makes a splash
If not, I’m all wet.
Oneness: God's vision for marriage & for the whole world
I’ve seen too much pain in the gender wars in the church, too much using the Scriptures as a weapon. As a result, I came to avoid passages like Eph. 5:22-33. It was only when […]
The case for pity
“Do not scorn pity that is the gift of a gentle heart” – J.R.R. Tolkien We live in a culture that wants nothing of pity (other than self-pity). We never want to give someone else […]
In praise of pi
My son Josiah has been looking forward to March 14 for weeks. It’s Pi Day (since March 14 is 3/14, which resembles 3.14, the first three digits of pi). And this morning, on the way […]
Finding the purpose in our suffering
Pain is one of the most personal things any of us ever experiences. Whether physical or emotional, pain has the ability to focus our attention unlike almost any other human experience. This past week, I […]
The 2 things essential to living a graced life
Everything good in my life has been given to me. My life itself. My wife. My children. My friendships. My body, with its unique physical abilities. My mind, with its unique and often odd ways of […]
Pastor of the playground, or How to join God in the work He's doing in the world
I was listening to a friend talk about the frustrations of being an elementary school recess duty. In doing her job, she spent most of her time trying to enforce playground rules, which meant she was […]
1 year in blogging … 1 job offer
When I starting blogging a year ago, I didn’t expect to earn a penny at it. I just started writing and didn’t stop. A friend who has written nine books told me that seven of […]
I am so out of control
Ever take stock of your life like they do at a retail store? Checking the inventory on the shelves, the stuff everyone sees? Totaling up everything in the back that no one sees but you? […]
Love is a relationship, not an event
Today is Valentine’s Day. Not only is it a day of mandatory romance as dictated by Hallmark, but there’s a “Love Rally” planned for nation’s capitol, promoting love and denouncing hate. Now, I’m all for […]
The problem with my book shelves
I have an incredible library. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, reference — I’ve got thousands of incredible books on my shelves. I’ve even read some of them! But there are some problems with my having all of […]
Caring for our neglected souls
We live in a culture that knows almost nothing about souls. The word is used so rarely, it may soon drop out of the language altogether. And who treats us like we have souls? We […]
What makes movies rewatchable? And a list of the 50 most rewatchable movies ever
With the Advent of Netlix and Hulu and Amazon Prime, I don’t feel like I need to own movies anymore. Well, kinda. None of those services have everything and there are some movies that I […]
Mourning the death of celebrities in our death-denying culture
David Bowie. Alan Rickman. Glen Frey. I’m sure there are others as well, but already 2016 has been a rough year on celebrities with these three deaths. While never a huge Bowie fan, his music […]
Listening to MLK with my daughter
Like everyone else, I’m grateful for a 3-day weekend, thanks to Martin Luther King Day observance. It has given me the chance to take my daughter to a volleyball tournament, where she is playing teams from […]
The not-knowing of being a parent
“So, Mom, you raised five kids. What did you learn?” We were sitting in the small family room of our tiny one-bedroom apartment in Vancouver. My parents had come more than 1000 miles to see […]
The sanity of Sabbath-keeping
One of the most life-changing books that I’ve ever read is Marva Dawn’s Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting. In it, she explains how Sabbath-keeping isn’t so much a matter of obligation, but of […]
Wendell Berry & living gratefully in the place where the past meets the future
One of my favorite authors is Wendell Berry, who has been writing novels and poetry and essays for more than 50 years. I’ve soaked in almost 30 of his books over the past decade and have […]
What do we do with our insecurities?
When I was in college, the city I was living in was hit by a powerful earthquake. And I was sitting on the toilet. As I sat there, I thought, “This isn’t where I want to […]
Paying the smart phone tax
Paying the smart phone tax by Seth Godin It might be costing you more than you think. Urgent or important?: Your phone has been optimized to highlight the urgent. It buzzes and beeps. It sorts things. […]
Christmas lights & the beautiful life
I love Christmas lights. Any Christmas lights. There’s something to dangling white icicle lights and traditional colored bulbs, something to rope lights and net lights that warms a cold December night for me. I will always […]
Some civility, please!
Last night, my daughter showed me a meme comparing Donald Trump to Adolph Hitler. On one hand, it was a pointed critique of some truly disturbing rhetoric by him. On the other hand, it was […]
Morality vs. Moralism
Morality is a decision-making system which gives the ability to judge between right and wrong. It is a ruler by which things are measured and found to be worthy or not. It is a filter that strains out the […]
The saint behind Santa Claus
When my oldest son was 4, he and two of his little buddies were sitting in a row of carseats talking about Santa Claus. “I can’t wait for Santa Claus to come,” said the first […]
I'm not sure if I'm indecisive or not.
I’d flip a coin, but I don’t know if I want to choose heads or tails.
The gift of thanks
It’s never too early to celebrate Thanksgiving. In fact, aside from the turkey and fixings which would quickly grow tiresome, it ought to be a daily observance. Recent studies have shown that if there is […]
If you were a drink, what would you be?
If we don’t drink, we die. There’s no question there. But what we drink and why; now, there’s a lot of room for variety with our beverage choices. When I go to coffee shops, I […]
Thanks 10,000 times!!!
When I started blogging earlier this year, I wasn’t sure I was cut out for it. I’d write something and only one person would read it. But rather than being discouraged by that, I was […]
The power of No — resistance is not futile
A while ago, I passed by a guy wearing a black t-shirt with the one-word sentence on it: “No.” I was tempted to ask him a question that he would have to answer with a […]
The difference just a few seconds makes
Most of life is determined by just a few seconds here and there. Just a few seconds is usually the difference between success and failure, cleanliness and messiness, love and alienation. Turning the light off […]
Why are we always looking for a scapegoat?
Celebrities exist so that we can lift them up and adore them only to throw them to the ground when they fail us. We love to love them. And we love to see them fail […]
What will your epitaph say?
If you could sum up your life in a phrase, what would it be? And even more importantly, what would others say about you? What we think of our lives is one thing. But our […]