I will open with a poem from poet-theologian George Hobson, Regent scholar-in-residence back in 2003. He and his wife Victoria live in Provence, France. The poem is taken from George’s new collection,  May Day Morning in Yerevan. You can check more from this author here.

Beyond the Stars

 I reside between the rough bark
And the burning stars.
I embrace trees and say, “I love you.”
The remote stars I consider with awe,
But it’s hard to say to them, “I love you.”
Yet they’re lodged in me,
Their light fills my eyes.
I can’t touch them like the rough bark,
Yet they burn in my belly.
What they are in themselves,
Materially,
I consider thoughtfully and marvel,
Because I come from there;
But it’s their beauty burns inside me,
Not just their atoms:
It radiates glory,
It’s the invisible made visible,
Like the waving trees that make visible the wind.
That beauty is Home,
I belong there;
With my heart I know it,
As I know the rough bark with my hand.
To this that is beyond the stars,
To that of which this beauty is a sign,
A Word,
I can say—and I want to say—
“I love you.”

Charles Ringma, Regent professor emeritus, has kept a brisk writing discipline and his latest is With Your Latte: A Little Wisdom to Lighten Your Way. Here are a couple of his reflections from the book:

"When St. Francis, the rich romantic and swashbuckling mercenary, kissed the leper, he showed that a strange event can be the place of personal transformation."

 "The icicles of doubt, fear and disappointment can really numb the membranes of the heart, but living with gratitude and wonder keeps the heart tender." 

Whether or not they follow him, most people who know of Jesus believe he was a highly ethical person and profound teacher who challenged the powers that be and died an unjust death. But was that all? Did his life end with his death like every other normal human being? Or as the first-century documents called the gospels assert, was Jesus raised physically from the dead? Did he come back to life to walk and talk and eat and show his scars? Did his disciples get it right? Is death not the end of the road? This book presents key lines of historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. At its heart, it is the story of the resurrection witnesses. Witness reports, their backstories, and accounts of the way they lived their lives going forward allow the reader to evaluate their character and credibility. Remarkable archaeological discoveries and secular historical figures enter the picture when they cross paths with the witnesses.

I would be remiss to miss Matthew Thomas’s (he would be on my case). Matthew J. Thomas examines how Paul's second-century readers understood these points in conflict, how their readings relate to "old" and "new" perspectives, and what their collective witness suggests about the apostle's own meaning. Surprisingly, these early witnesses align closely with the "new" perspective, though their reasoning often differs from both modern viewpoints. They suggest that Paul opposes these works neither due to moralism, nor primarily for experiential or social reasons, but because the promised new law and covenant, which are transformative and universal in scope, have come in Christ.

Refresh your prayer life with this fresh take on the Psalms. We all pray. And we all struggle at it. We need help. For thousands of years, God's people have turned to the Psalms for that help. This ancient collection of prayers, songs, and wisdom poems has been a faithful guide for those who pray. Even Jesus used them. There's no better place to shape a biblical spirituality that takes into account the realities of everyday life. Peter Santucci's love of the Psalms was ignited by his mentor Eugene Peterson. Peter has been a pastor, a journalist, a hospital/hospice chaplain, and a volleyball coach. He blogs at GodAndLifeAndStuff.com and lives with his family in Bend, Oregon.