Beautiful things

It’s Saturday evening, and I’m about to sign off for the night after a long day of proofreading. First, however, I wanted to share a few things with you. There’s no rhyme or reason, except that these are all things that warmed my heart this week one way or another.

I’ll start with last Sunday morning. We were thrilled to have our former pastor, Karen Campbell, back in town and preaching for us. Karen left a couple years back to return to her home in Northern Ireland, but she was back in town for a conference. Earlier in the week, she stopped by for a late-night visit. We sat in our living room drinking tea and eating cake, and each of my kids joined us. They stayed the whole time, chatting with her and just enjoying her presence. After she left, it dawned on me. It was just like the old Christian Reformed “home visits”—when a pastor or elder comes to your home to minister you but also to check up on you: Are you doing family devotions? Do you pray? I remember as kids we all had to sit on the couch for what seemed like a long and stuffy conversation, obviously on our best behavior. Except this time around, none of my kids had to be there. They are 19, 17, and 12, and I assumed they’d say ‘hi,’ grab a piece of cake, and wander off. But they stayed as long as she did, thoroughly enjoying her company. What a testament to her ministry, and to the pastoral vocation, in the best sense.

On Sunday morning, Pastor Karen preached for us on the book of Daniel. We are standing on a threshold, and we can’t go back. We are standing in the fire, but we have hope, and we will not bow down to empire. I won’t try to convey the beauty and richness of the sermon, but if you need balm for the soul, listen to it here:

Earlier in the week, I also came across this clip from Colbert’s Late Show. I love Colbert, but this interview took my breath away. Not the interview as much as Ian McKellen’s monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More. It is indescribably good. If you haven’t seen it, you must stop everything and watch it here. If you’re like me, you’ll watch it several more times. Again, balm for the soul.

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Lent begins this week. How are we that far into 2026 already? If you’re looking for Lenten readings, I recommend picking up Diana Butler Bass’s A Beautiful Year, if you haven’t already. Start on Ash Wednesday, and go from there. It feels just right for where we are right now.

We talk about it just a bit at the end of this week’s Convocation Unscripted. I think we end on a beautiful point:

And, one more thing. My manuscript is due Monday morning.

Five years.

So. much. work.

This morning, I formatted the document for submission. Then, I read aloud the first several chapters to double-check that everything is as it should be.

And…I love it. I absolutely love how this book turned out. I think I love it more than Jesus and John Wayne. I am so relieved not only that it is finished, but that it ended up being exactly the book I wanted to write.

This is how I felt when I finished Jesus and John Wayne: this is what I have to say, exactly this.