Uber Conversations
Jasper Fu drives two hours a day for Uber, an app-based taxi service. He doesn’t do it for the money, since he already has a fulltime job. He says he does it because it’s a good way to “talk to people.” Chinese culture encourages quiet restraint, so it can seem inappropriate to walk up to a stranger and start a conversation. It’s different when you’re picking them up in your car. Jasper says, “Under no other circumstance can I find a stranger to talk with me for like 10 to 20 minutes.”
alone in the dark
Gravity tells the story of Dr. Ryan Stone—a brilliant biomedical engineer on her first space shuttle mission. Her partner for the journey is veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski. During a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalski completely alone, tethered to nothing but each other, and ominously spiraling out into blackness.
Loving the Lonely
Finishing up a long day’s work, I pressed the touch screen on my computer one last time and saw a date that was very familiar. Just like that it hit me: Today is my dad’s birthday. Quickly my thoughts went to my mom. Widowed 20 years ago, my mother is a living testimony of God’s provision and strength for those who come face to face with life’s hard unpredictability.
a terrible kind of lonely
The Great Andamanese is one of the most ancient people groups, a collection of 10 tribes tracing their lineage directly back to the first people who migrated out of Africa. These tribes have slowly dwindled over the past few centuries. One of the tribes had only one survivor remaining, Boa Sr.—a woman with no children and failing eyesight. After Boa’s husband died, she was no longer able to speak to anyone in her native language (Bo).
sleepless nights
Sleep. It’s one of the most underrated pleasures in life. There’s nothing like a good night’s rest or napping on a rainy day. My bed feels like a refuge—a small sanctuary from the cares of life.
in the café
Crystal stares out the café window, wondering if life will ever improve. Five men, two kids, all by age 29. She’s lonely and wonders if man no. 6 will make things better.
He knows you
He knows you. He knows every microcosm and nanosecond of your existence—every cell, atom, and molecule; every interest, weakness, and achievement; every hope, dream, and grief.
a new genesis
A couple of years ago, as I was driving our son Wyatt to kindergarten, our conversation turned to resurrection. Understandably, Wyatt was perplexed about what it meant and how it worked. Finally, he asked the question for which he most wanted an answer. “Dad,” he asked, “when God raises us from the dead, are we going to be really alive? Or just alive in our head?”
being alone?
read> Psalm 46:1-11
"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I wil be exalted in the earth!" (Psalm 46:10).
Being born and raised in a Latin American culture, I always believed that to be alone was to be lonely. For me the word held a negative and depressive connotation. When I went to…
loneliness—a life story
I want to share a life experience to encourage others. Here it is:
It was back then in my first day of school in becoming a junior high school student in a Christian School. There were many students from another Elementary school that enrolled in that school, but none came from my school—only me. I was not the one who…
breaking away
Say the word glacier and most of us think of something massive and slow-moving. One group of Alaskan tourists, however, witnessed a jaw-dropping surprise when a 200-foot-tall chunk of ice broke away from a glacier.
One passenger aboard the Tracy Arm Fjords Tours boat captured a video clip of the “mini” iceberg plunging into the water. It created forceful waves and…
blessings on the mourners
A man with whom I attended college committed suicide recently. He killed himself on the 3-year anniversary of the day his wife died. He left behind a video in which he told how heartbroken he had been and of the many ways he had attempted to assuage his sorrow. I’m sad for my friend. I’m sorry for his pain and…
near
A musician friend of mine has a cousin named Emmanuel. My friend wrote a song alluding to Emmanuel’s fairytale-like wedding. The ceremony was outdoors in a picturesque setting with fine weather and wooded surroundings.
As the time to commence neared, however, many grew nervous because no one had seen the groom all day. Soon, however, a distant figure came through…
staying close
Over the past few months my wife and I have been the Master and Mistress of Ceremonies for three weddings. Not only are we considering doing this fulltime (just kidding!), we truly enjoyed helping the couples design marriage ceremonies and receptions that reflect who they are.
God designed marriage in a way that reflects who He is. He said, “It…
friends forever
In honor of Friendship Day (being celebrated today), Winnie the Pooh was named the world’s ambassador. Those familiar with the famous red-shirted teddy bear know that the collection of Pooh stories highlight the friendships Winnie has with a group of good friends: Piglet, Christopher Robin, Tigger, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit, and Eeyore. The group experienced many fun and challenging adventures together.…
