He speaks. The same Voice comes to Jacob, Bringing wise laws and decrees to Israel. No other nation has been so fortunate. They don’t know these words of life. So shout your Hallelujah! (Everyday Psalms, […]
Tag: Eugene Peterson
Life is a role-playing game
Online gaming has brought a whole new life to the role-playing games I knew growing up. Back in the early 1980s, Dungeons and Dragons had an air of mystique and a reputation of leading unsuspecting […]
The Vine (or When I become God’s enemy)
Every now and then I pause and ask myself: What if I’m on the wrong side here? Is it possible I’m the bad guy in this situation? I have stepped back to gain some perspective […]
The necessary violence of God
I like me the idea of pacifism and especially a nonviolent God. But human pacifism is impossible with a nonviolent God. Too many people have a theology centered on a God who cannot cause pain. […]
Farewell, Jan
On May 10, 2019, our friend Jan Peterson died, joining her husband and my mentor, Eugene Peterson, just seven months after his death. Jan lived much of the last three decades of her life in […]
Give yourself away
My youngest son is addicted to the piano. He plays it for hours every day. He watches endless videos of people playing piano. He spends his money on piano books. He falls asleep listening to […]
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 […]
Psalm 4
Here’s my rendering of Psalm 4. But first a few thoughts about poetry and the difficulty of taking something several thousand years old and offering it in an American setting in 21st century English. Poetry […]
The necessity of plagiarism in prayer
We’re all beginners when it comes to prayer.* And hopefully we always remain amateurs in our praying, since the word “amateur” originated from the French word for “lover.” There aren’t many of us who like […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
"Magic" is everywhere — The Gospel according to Harry Potter, part 1
I have been reading and rereading the Harry Potter books since J.K. Rowling started publishing them. I can’t say I got my copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone the day it was released, but […]
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 book that taught me to read like a pastor
I had just finished reading Morgan’s Passing by Anne Tyler and hated it. Morgan was no hero, I fumed. He was selfish from start to finish. His silly outfits. His affair. He was all about […]
From Bible reading to Bible living
Followers of Jesus have always had a sense that our Bible reading ought to lead to a change in the way we live our lives. We are followers, after all, and following has action at […]
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 […]
How we know God
The only way to know God is to live in his love and to share it with others. This is how the Scriptures put it: Beloved, let us love one another, for love comes from […]
Celebrating marriage — including the dark parts
“Marriage is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” I was sitting in Eugene Peterson’s class on Ephesians at Regent College when he said those words. He didn’t elaborate and I think I missed the rest […]
Prayer is simply keeping company with God
Every now and then I come across a book where the title alone is enough for me. In fact, when I read it, I discover that the rest of the book is really just helping […]
Religion is dead — and that's good!
RELIGION IS DEAD. IT JUST IS. BUT THAT’S OK. IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE. Eugene Peterson points out that religion is like a tree’s bark — it’s the dead part of the tree. But the bark is […]
Psalm 119 — Real wisdom for real life
What does the best kind of life look like? And how can we live it? If there are any questions worth pursuing, it’s these. Psalm 119 has an answer. This massive, 176-verse wisdom psalm is […]
How to read the Bible, part 3 — Pray — I speak back to the God who is speaking to me.
It’s only polite to listen to those who speak to us. It’s also impolite to remain silent when someone has just tried to engage us in a conversation. When someone speaks to me, I respond. […]
How to read the Bible, part 2 — Engage — God is speaking … to me.
Once we’ve done the first step of Bible reading — listening to the God who speaks — we move on the the personal step: engaging. The second step in what is known as lectio divina is […]
What is the most lasting effect of preaching?
Far too much attention has been given to the sermon as an event. I don’t deny that it is one. I am named after one of the greatest preachers ever. Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 […]
The purpose of worship — from experience to encounter
In a 2005 interview with Christianity Today, Eugene Peterson said, “Do we realize how almost exactly the Baal culture of Canaan is reproduced in American church culture? Baal religion is about what makes you feel […]
Smuggling the truth
I came across the following quote by movie director Danny Boyle from way back in 2005 in a great interview with Jeffrey Overstreet: “… you’ve got to be, like Scorsese says, ‘cunning.’ You’ve got to […]