Author Archives: Mark Ekstrom

You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self…and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds. Ephesians 4 I tried but I could not find a wayLooking back, all I did was look awayNext time is the best time, we all knowBut if there is no next time,Continue reading “Remake/Remodel”

How is everyone doing?  It has been some time since I last asked that question, and given recent events I thought it would be a good time to check in as we all try to process the news coming out of Washington. The last two weeks have been…well, I don’t know what to say aboutContinue reading “Opportunity”

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12 Most of us are aware of the book by John F. Kennedy, Profiles in Courage. It was a collection of vignettes concerning individual persons who acted boldly and bravely for the sake of the common good with a readinessContinue reading “Expect Nothing”

“Prayer and action can never be seen as contradictory or mutually exclusive.” Henri Nouwen “When are we going to do something? I’m so tired of getting up here and offering condolences to the devastated families that are out there. I’m tired of the moments of silence. Enough!” NBA Coach Steve Kerr on mass shootings “ThoughtsContinue reading “Thoughts and Prayers”

Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.  But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;  God chose what isContinue reading “Even Death on a Cross”

He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account. Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.Continue reading “A Thousand Words”

Is not this the fast that I choose:     to loose the bonds of injustice,    to undo the thongs of the yoke,to let the oppressed go free,    and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,    and bring the homeless poor into your house;when you see the naked, to cover them,    and not to hideContinue reading “The Fast That You Choose”

I marveled at how like a radio my mind worked, scanning restlessly from station to station, tuning in to this entertainment or that one…At moments I felt certain I could hear the God station signaling through the static, but I always lost it. Randall Sullivan in “The Miracle Detective” What do we see if weContinue reading “Close Attention (part 2)”

To see the world in a blade of grassAnd heaven in a wild flowerTo hold infinity in the palm of your handAnd eternity in an hour William Blake The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself. Henry Miller “What exactlyContinue reading “Close Attention (part 1)”

And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it.  Luke 2:42-43 “On the Third Day of Christmas my true love gave to me” a highly condensedContinue reading “Lost and Found”