Erin M. Straza's Blog, page 4
October 17, 2017
Tuning My Ears to God’s Voice
One of the best gifts Mike has ever given me is a set of Bose noise-cancelling earphones. Lest you think earphones are among the worst gifts a man could give his beloved—in the same category as giving a blender, a la Father of the Bride—let me be clear: these earphones...
When the World Gets You Down, Try Some Pie
We live in tumultuous times. So said many a person in every generation, but still, we are living in this one, so it seems much more tumultuous to us. The tumult of the 1800s doesn’t feel so terrible without nary a toe dipped in its waters. Plus, history proved that...
October 16, 2017
My Ears Seem to Be Broken
If I don’t write it down, you can bet I’ll forget it. Too many times to count, I’ve been on my way to the store and my dear husband will say, “Hey! Why don’t you pick up some extra _________!” I’ll agree. I’ll even be excited about whatever Mike has...
October 15, 2017
The Living One Who Sees Me
As my husband would attest, I’m not the most observant person when it comes to physical space. I can walk right on by things without noticing. But I cannot NOT pick up on emotional vibes and tension, so I figure my skills lie elsewhere. Suffice it to say, I don’t...
October 14, 2017
Here’s Mud in Your Eye
Do you have a favorite book or movie that you never tire of? I have watched You’ve Got Mail, The Incredibles, Akeela and the Bee countless times. I read A Horse and His Boy annually. And then there are my favorite passages of Scripture. Chapter 9 of John’s Gospel is...
October 13, 2017
You’ve Got Zombie Vision
A few months ago I read Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. It’s a haunting story about a family and how tragedy met them over a few generations, shaping their lives. As the sorrows compiled, the family home grew more cluttered, falling into disrepair. What was familiar and common to the family...
October 12, 2017
When Your Spiritual Sight Is Fuzzy
Our bodies have these amazing sensors through which we gather information about our surroundings. Eyes, ears, mouth, nose, skin—these faculties work together to inform, warn, and direct. Without our senses, we would be in grave danger, either from imperceptible harm from the world around us or from the psychological trauma...
October 11, 2017
You Might Be a Spiritual Zombie If…
The downside of writing about zombies when you know very little about them is that you have to do lots of informational searches. Searches that flood your computer screen with all manner of disgusting and creepy zombie images. It will be a miracle if I get through this 31-day writing...
October 10, 2017
Will the Spiritually Sick Please Step Forward?
No one likes to be sick. It’s miserable. I’m at the tail end of a simple head cold—a fairly minor illness—but the first few days I figured seasonal allergies were to blame. By the third day I realized it was a virus, but there wasn’t much more I could do...
October 9, 2017
Measures of Spiritual Health
Get ready, readers. I’ve got a rather controversial opinion to share. I loved La La Land. I loved this film so much that I actually argued on the Internet in favor of it. (Well, as much as I argue, anyhow.) What I discovered is that La La Land is divisive....
