by kdudley | May 29, 2020 | News
Daily Word of Grace # 54 (May 29, 2020) Following his conversion to Christianity in 1979 recent Nobel laureate Bob Dylan released three overtly Christian albums: Slow Train Coming (1979), Saved (1980) and Shot of Love (1981). There are some often overlooked gems on...
by kdudley | May 28, 2020 | News
Daily Word of Grace # 53 (May 28, 2020) In Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice Portia pleads for mercy for Antonio in one of the most beautiful descriptions of mercy ever written: “The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven...
by kdudley | May 27, 2020 | News
Daily Word of Grace # 52 (May 27, 2020) A particularly moving poem by the great nineteenth century poet Emily Dickinson is about something we all need, especially in hard times, hope: “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches on the soul, and sings the tune...
by kdudley | May 26, 2020 | News
Daily Word of Grace # 51 (May 26, 2020) In his final book entitled All is Grace the late Christian preacher and writer Brennan Manning got right to the point: “My message, unchanged for more than fifty years, is this: God loves you unconditionally, as you are and not...
by kdudley | May 25, 2020 | News
Daily Word of Grace # 50: May 25, 2020 In the soundtrack of the funny and insightful 1995 coming of age film Clueless is my favorite song by Radiohead, a song about the longing for the real thing in a plastic world, a song entitled “Fake Plastic Trees.” ...
by kdudley | May 22, 2020 | News
Daily Word of Grace # 49 (May 22, 2020) One beautiful May morning while walking through the streets of Paris, my daughter Becky and I came across a portion of ruins from the Bastille, the once notorious centuries old prison that held such famous prisoners as Voltaire....
by kdudley | May 21, 2020 | News
Daily Word of Grace # 48 (May 21, 2020) A couple years ago I had the privilege of spending an afternoon at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan, one of the best afternoons of my life. Among the many landmark works of art housed there is Jackson Pollock’s 1947 “Full...
by kdudley | May 20, 2020 | News
Daily Word of Grace # 47 (May 20, 2020) One of the hardest sermons I have ever had to preach was at the funeral of a seventeen year old boy many years ago. He was funny, athletic, smart, and had lots of friends—but the cancer with which he was repeatedly stricken...
by kdudley | May 19, 2020 | News
Daily Word of Grace # 46 (May 19, 2020) In Cormac McCarthy’s award winning 1992 novel All the Pretty Horses John Grady Cole has a moving conversation with Duena Alfonsa, the grandaunt and godmother of Alejandra, the girl with whom he has fallen in love. Duena notices...
by kdudley | May 18, 2020 | News
Daily Word of Grace: May 18, 2020 In “An Order for Compline”, a beautiful brief liturgy for prayer found in The Book of Common Prayer and intended for use at the end of the day, there is powerful prayer for grace in times of uncertainty: “Be present,...
