A Christmas Mini-Retreat An empty, echoing room lined with lights and tinsel. Open, unfilled space, not yet prepared. An invitation left unsent. Shadows and darkness ping off of the walls. And the knock on the door goes unnoticed. These words offer a picture of a soul longing for the fullness of Jesus even among the […]
About Jan Kern
Beautiful Sorrow
Sorrow, when it enters our day, often comes without warning. Uncomfortable and painful, it can be attached to regret, betrayal, or grief. Can it, at the same time, be beautiful? The Examen prayer is a meditation practiced by the ancient Stoics and then later popularized by Saint Ignatius and the Jesuits. Within the presence of […]
Vista Prayers for the New Year
We are nearly a month into a new year and the days ahead still open wide before us. They seem to invite possibility and hope and a promise of time. But most of us get a few weeks in and find we are swallowed up in life and busyness and unexpected events. I?m trying an […]
Through God’s Lens
?I?m having difficulty seeing connections, knowing where you are leading, sensing your heart, capturing your perspective. Please help me see through your lens, Lord.? These words from my journal, especially the last sentence, reflect a common prayer for me in recent years. I long to see, if even in small measure, from God?s perspective and […]
The Season?s Invitations for Stillness of Heart
Quiet greets me as I walk into my garden. In early summer the fragrances there are subtle and fresh?the sweet basil, flowering lavender, and tender shoots of snow peas. In these later months, as summer begins to give way to autumn, the scents are crisper, stronger, earthier. As I brush by, the aromas stir and […]
A Prayer Rhythm ? When My Heart is Overwhelmed
When I am overwhelmed, the path ahead seems long, unending. It presses in and I am alone. And yet I am not. Not really. Not ever. As I begin to form simple words, halting prayer words, I know?even if I don’t immediately feel?that God is with me. Over the last ten years or so I […]
My Finest Gift I Bring
This year Christmas songs are pouring into every inch of our cozy, ministry-provided home. (Pandora Station, Christmas Hymns.) I turn up the volume so I can hear the tunes upstairs or downstairs and as I go about my tasks and projects. At times I hum or sing along, enjoying the reminders of this season of […]
