Holy Places: the table

Posted on September 3, 2021 by Jill English Johnston

Finding the holy in places others may not see.

Tucked under the pines of Colorado is a mountain home with a large wooden table. The table has seen many family gatherings, has been cluttered with many projects, and has been a place of temporary storage as the owner sorts through a life that once filled two homes and an RV.

One evening, the table was cleared once again for a meal. With plenty of food to eat, the owner invited a neighbor couple over to share at the table. Over the simple meal, conversations flowed about children and grandchildren, stories were told of memories the two couples shared, and discussions were held about the events of the world.

There was no talk about God or Jesus. But if generosity and hospitality are part of God’s character, than isn’t he present when those virtues are?

The Gospel narrative makes meals shared together a holy and consecrated time. Jesus sharing meals with the irreligious. Jesus breaking bread with the outcasts. Jesus passing the cup of wine to a group of unlikely people he called friends.

And when Jesus, with his audacious generosity and abundant hospitality, is at the table, the table is holy. The kingdom of heaven among us. In the meals eaten together, in the time spent around the table together, in the conversations, the stories and the discussions.

Finding Jesus in the places others may not see.

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Be Still Series – Praise: Proclaiming the Glory of God

Posted on September 1, 2021 by Jill English Johnston

My husband has had a passion for photography longer than I’ve had a passion for writing (and I say that only because he’s older than I am). He loves capturing the fleeting moments of God’s amazing creation, once on film, now in digital format.

When we were dating, he took hold of my heart when he assembled a slide show of his favorite photos. From sunrise to sunset (and some instrumental music playing in the background) he led me through the beauty and wonder of creation. I felt as if he was giving me a glimpse into his heart and soul. And I thought, “if these pictures reflect this man, then he’s someone I could spend my life with.” That was over thirty years ago.

Throughout our life together he has continued to take pictures. However, only a few others were blessed by his art and I always encouraged him to “do something” with all the images he had. And I encouraged him all the more after we retired.

In 2017, I discovered what was then called Amazon Create Space where aspiring writers could self publish their own books and with it, an idea began to blossom. That same summer I attended a ministry retreat and in a box of free books I found a simple 8X8 book by photographer Mal Austen, a photo meditation on the psalms. As I flipped through the book I thought, we could do this.

I don’t remember all the details, but I do remember writing the poem at my parents’ home that, along with verses from the Psalms, now make up the heart of Praise. I asked Jon to look through his images and find pictures to go along with each verse. I kept the format simple, one of Jon’s photos, a verse from the Psalm, a line from my poem, a prayer prompt, and space for the reader to write her own prayer.

I dubbed it our photo devotional. And the Be Still series was born. I had the first edition done and up for sale on Amazon in November of that year. Our church organized a fall artisan fair that year and I used the opportunity to promote and sell the first copies.

The book can be purchased on Amazon at Praise: Proclaiming the Glory of God.

See all the books currently available by visiting my Be Still page.

All the books in the Be Still series are available on Amazon. Visit my author page Jill English Johnston.

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Out of Sorts by Sarah Bessey

Posted on August 30, 2021 by Jill English Johnston

Refreshing and Honest.

My husband and I take a lot of road trips and we enjoy listening to books we can discuss while we’re driving. We first heard about Sarah Bessey’s book when it was mentioned on a podcast we listen to so we downloaded it for our next trip.

Our listening involved a lot of pushing pause and discussing what Bessey talks about. Much of it struck a deep cord within both of us. Over the past year and a half we have wrestled with disappointment in people who claim to be followers of Jesus yet have caused much harm, hurt and division within the church body.

We’ve struggled with how God’s word has been interpreted, used, and wielded, with how his word is used to oppress, condemn, and exclude those who seek him, with how so many denominations or affiliations of the Christian church claim to have the final “truth” of what God wants and condemn everyone else to hell. We struggle with how, because of all these things, we fail to impact the world around us with God’s grace and love.

And, as Bessey puts it, we have felt out of sorts. Not so much with our relationship with our Heavenly Father, with Jesus, and with the Holy Spirit – for in the midst of our wrestling these have strengthened and deepened, but instead, with the American church. We’ve wrestled with who and what the evangelical church has aligned itself with. We’ve wrestled with the rotten fruit born by those claiming to be Christians, all the while clinging to their doctrines, dogmas and divides. For much of our wrestling we have kept our discussions to ourselves because we have been concerned others would think we are on the “slippery slope” of heresy.

In Out of Sorts we’ve found context for that wrestling. And, as Bessey puts it, isn’t God on the slippery slope also? Like her, we “still hold (our) understandings loosely. Faith isn’t certainty, (we) know that by now. If (we) were certain, (we) wouldn’t need faith.” And in the end, like Bessey, we continue to follow Jesus, we continue our journey of faith and we continue with our community of believers, because Jesus loves his church in all her mess and calls us to do the same.

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Holy places: trash or treasure

Posted on August 27, 2021 by Jill English Johnston

Finding the holy in places others may not see.

Turn right at the mailboxes and drive down a twisting, winding dirt road. There’s a two acre plot on the mountain tucked under the tall pines. In the time I’ve spent there recently, I’ve discovered holy ground. Holy, not just because it’s in the beautiful Colorado mountains, but holy because it’s littered with what others would think of as trash, as junk, as rubbish.

If you know the man who owns the place, you know where others see trash, he sees treasure. Take a few moments and walk around the place with him and he will tell you about every item, every project, every venture. The rusted, dented body of a car in the throes of restoration. The pieces and parts he’s gathered to build something new. He’ll tell you how much he paid, taking pride in the good deals he finds, and he’ll tell you how much it will soon be worth.

He takes what the world has discarded or cheapened and touched it with his knowledge, his artistic and creative abilities, his meticulous care. He does it because he can. Because he loves to. Does that not remind you of the heart of our God?

Just like our Heavenly Father who takes someone the world has discarded, someone deemed unworthy and with no value, someone in need of divine attention and, with painstaking love and care, restores heart, life, and beauty into the person, making her who she is created to be. A person of treasure because of the Artist’s touch.

Finding God in places others may not see.

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The Truths We Hold by Kamala Harris

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Jill English Johnston

Just as I wanted to understand Michelle Obama and read her book, Becoming, I also wanted to get a personal look at our first female, first Black, and first Indian-American Vice President, Kamala Harris, so earlier this year I picked up her book, The Truths We Hold.

These two amazing women have secured a place in history, but they are also so very different. But that’s not surprising, is it? We all have our own, unique stories to tell.

Becoming felt like a casual conversation to me, a leisurely stroll together talking about events that impacted Michelle Obama personally. However, Truths left me breathless. Kamala Harris hit the ground running and raced me through the professional events in her life. One review I read said her book reads more like a campaign platform. While I don’t entirely disagree, as the book lays out who she is, what she believes, and what she has accomplished, she also touches on some pivotal moments in her childhood that played a big role in her life and career.

Harris comes from two cultural worlds, Jamaican and Indian and was surrounded by movers and shakers of the American civil rights movement during her formative years, giving her a perspective I definitely didn’t have.

While I may not agree with everything Harris supports, I admire how she passionately and aggressively seeks to correct the wrongs she sees. There are those that criticize her efforts or claim her projects and programs as flawed or failed, but to find what works, to reach a solution to the challenges we face, one must be willing to take the bold step of trying. As Winston Churchill said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

What resounds throughout Harris’ book is courage. Courage to stand up to the powers that be, courage to work long and hard for values and ideals, courage to go where no woman has gone before.

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