By Dr. Joy A. Howard I am a planner. I know the where and the when and the how. I know who needs to show up and who needs a ride. I pack first aid kits and I am the one who knows where the closest hospitals are located. I think planning is good. This […]
A Living Thing
by on April 25, 2018 13 Comments
I’ve had a complicated relationship with prayer for a long time now. Most likely, it started around the time that I realized that ten years of praying for God to heal my mom’s cancer hadn’t come true. I know–that last sentence sounds more like a genie in a bottle, my prayers like desperate scratches at […]
The Secret of Unfurling
by on February 22, 2018 14 Comments
Can I tell you something? For too long I heard wrong. And misunderstood the language of the years. This mistake shaped me for a time. Calendars flipped and my body curved and still I was quiet. Each year sifted down upon my head and slowly I became hidden. But see this– Look with me at […]
When Your Prayer Doesn’t Heal Me (and how you should react)
by on August 20, 2017 22 Comments
It’s an ordinary day in the run-up to Christmas and we’re out in town to look for presents. Then, on High Street, we see people with bright clothes and a sign advertising healing prayer, scanning the crowd and looking despondent. Their eyes alight on me, and immediately they brighten. From their scattered positions, they all […]
