Welcome to Blest Be the Tie! I’m Joann White, a writer, pastor, spiritual director, and enthusiast of wild places.
I’ve been writing for most of my life. My fourth-grade teacher Mrs. Carter read my first efforts at poetry and accused me of copying. In the sixth grade, I won a Young Author award for my mystery The Churchyard Phantom, the story of a girl detective who cracks a diamond smuggling ring run out of the local church. I have kept a journal for most of my adult life as a tool for reflection, prayer, and spiritual growth. For the past two decades, much of my writing has been for the church: sermons, newsletter articles, prayers, reports, and the weekly Blast. At some point, I figured out that writing is one of the things that God put me on earth to do, and I’ve tried to use my gift to honor and serve the Lord ever since.
Perhaps this little introduction about how I am using my gifts to grow as a public theologian, author, and servant of the Kingdom of God has got you thinking about your gifts. How is Jesus calling you to use your abilities to reach out and bless the world?
“Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so that a runner may read it.
For there is still a vision for the appointed time;
it speaks of the end, and does not lie.
If it seems to tarry, wait for it;
it will surely come, it will not delay.”
—Habakuk 2:2-3
Hidden Glory
Sabbath Day Thoughts — “Hidden Glory” Matthew 17:1-9 Have you seen the glory of Jesus lately? In August 2012, visitors to Belfast City Cemetery were surprised to see an image resembling the face of Jesus on a tree stump. City Council workers had been out earlier in the year to trim trees in the western…
Repair and Restore
Sabbath Day Thoughts — “Repair and Restore” Isaiah 58:1-12 On December 4, 1967, Martin Luther King was in Atlanta for a press conference. Dr. King had come to Georgia to announce his newest initiative in the pursuit of American social justice, The Poor People’s Campaign. In recent years, his activism had taken him north to…
Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness
Sabbath Day Thoughts — “Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness” Matthew 5:1-12 It’s February in Saranac Lake and all thoughts turn to Winter Carnival, our annual celebration of the season. Some of us are already hard at work on the shores of Lake Flower, building a palace that is certain to take our breath away. Others…
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Joann White 