For thirty-eight years, a lame man has lived at the Pools of Bethesda. It sits near the Sheep Gate, or market, outside the temple. A place bustling with life, health, and wellness. The people hurrying through, turn a blind eye to the suffering, broken outcasts who lived at the nearby pools. They are unmoved by what they see, jaded by the normality of walking past it so often. Immune to the brokenness that lives within this place known as The…
Once many, many years ago we lived in a rental home that was beautiful and perfect and fulfilled an answer to prayer. It was situated across the street from the ocean on the Island. And no matter what task we tended to, there sat the big blue ocean calling us. The house, grand and beautiful sitting upon the hill, was not without its problems though. The greatest of which was its severe lack of insulation which resulted in bitter cold…
I am a storyteller. I do not know when the gift was given to me, or when I even became aware that I had this gift. Does one sit around wondering when they learned to breathe? Stories seek me out, encapsulate me, and hold me hostage until I tell their whole existence, every minute detail. They haunt me, filling my dreams with their escapades as they romp through their lives demanding I notice and hear them, begging me not to…
The little family didn’t notice the sun was setting, because they were too busy playing their board game, moving small trains around the map and howling with frustration when someone else’s train blocked them. While equally laughing with triumph when they were able to procure a slot for their own little trains. As it grew dark the game was packed away and the tired, happy people went inside for dinner. They closed up the little house snuggly against the autumn…