Her heart hurt. Not because she was physically sick, or injured. Her insides felt heavy and sad. Caught in a lie, destroying the trust of her friend. Acting like an immature child, she was so disappointed in herself. She knew her words had not been not truthful. She knew her hands were doing wrong. Most… Continue reading Drink the Water
He heard it a million times from his mom; son of God, born of a virgin. When he was younger, he did not really know what all those words meant. Everyone was nice to him and he had a special place when they went to temple. He remembered the old men looking at him with… Continue reading What Jesus Did Not Know
How can a word save you? It can steer away from harm and danger. It can encourage and inspire to do the right thing. It can tell you where to walk and how to live. A word can be a sweet comfort or a stern warning. It can speak of truth in a world of… Continue reading One Word
Every Sunday, she was distracted by that picture. Tried not to look for too long, because it made her uncomfortable, but she couldn’t get it out of her head. And there, just on a forgotten wall down the church hall. She thought maybe they should have covered up that picture years ago, like all the… Continue reading What Good Girls Wear
There are all kinds of conversations that we have with all kinds of people. But every once in a while, the discussion gets serious, and we discover it’s one that really matters. Just today, I was surprised to find my relatively normal, everyday small talk heading down a road that I did not expect. Especially… Continue reading Gospel Resistant
You told me the trick. It was too good to be true. I told you, forget it. I couldn’t suspend disbelief. Because it didn’t make sense to my senses, my sight and my touch and my guilt and my shame. He said, Hocus Pocus. And then, it was so. I thought it illusion. Too good… Continue reading Delinquent Magic
Today was the day she decided to live exposed. Years of passive acceptances. Years of dealing with whatever they piled on her. Years of smiles and nods slowly suffocating the fighting spirit left inside. But from now on it would be different. Summoning all her courage to make a stand. Breaking out of the whitewashed… Continue reading Ba Ba Black Sheep
Unsure and afraid. Nothing had been constant in her life, and it was just a matter of getting through the day without having any great expectations. Long ago during pigtail years, her father promised to come and take her to the zoo. But after hours of watching for his scratched and beaten blue Honda out… Continue reading The Deadly IF
A good story meets you in the midst of life. It tells you something true, something you can relate to. It abducts you. It takes your heart unexpectedly. It gives you the breath of another life as a character in the fairy tale. It becomes a reality you dream is yours. It paints a world… Continue reading Predictable Stories are the Worst
Knowledge will set you free. So we believe. Our jobs, our relationships, our future, our faith, if we just know enough about it all, where is is going and what it all means, then everything will turn out all right. If we don’t find ourselves taking that wrong turn down the path that we thought… Continue reading Knowledge: Bondage or Freedom?
Cindy Koch 