Happy Epiphany/Merry Christmas to my Orthodox friends!

One of my friends is walking through breast cancer treatment with her sister. I love what she wrote me recently: "I have learned more than one thing, but primarily that Courage is Beautiful, not hair."

I'm holed up working to hit a two-book deadline Thursday. I've got one finished and am a few days ahead on the second. But I'm about fifty e-mail messages behind. Friday early I'm supposed to fly to West Texas with a couple of seminary prof writers and friends for some ranch and editing time. A good incentive to get finished, as if a contract date weren't enough!

I have an appointment to see my ortho trauma doc again on Tuesday. I really, really hope he will let me drive again and get back in the pool and lift up to five pounds.

Gary and I watched "Twin Towers" the other night. The only appropriate response after that film is to hold everybody you love.

My artsy friends over at www.SoulPerSuit.com are getting ready to launch a new SoulPerSuit (SPS) Bible study using my Mocha on the Mount as their guide in early February. They'll do one chapter/week and then interact creatively with what we're thinking about as a result. SPS is a creative way of taking application one step further so we really change rather than just getting smarter about how we should live. We use creativity to express our understanding and feelings about God and the Word when words may not suffice, as a creative expression can make the application more memorable and intrinsic. You can see samples by going to the SPS site and clicking on some of the art in the galleries. I plan to join in this time around. You can be anywhere in the world to join in. And you you can be a non-artist (visually speaking) like me. You also don't have to be a Christian to participate. The study will give you a good overview of Jesus' key teachings. More info at the SPS blog site. Join us!