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
The Healing Trees
Sabbath Day Thoughts — “The Healing Trees” Ezekiel 47:6b-12 and Revelation 22:1-5 The Fortingall yew is the oldest tree in Scotland, and perhaps all of Europe. At 5,000 years old, the tree was already ancient when the Prophet Ezekiel languished in exile in Babylon and Jesus strode out of Galilee and shook things up in…
Late Comers
Sabbath Day Thoughts — “Late Comers” Matthew 20:1-16 Many years ago, before I went to seminary, I was a young adult living in a diverse urban neighborhood. My daily path to work took me past the local 7-11 convenience store. What I remember most about the 7-11 was the crowd of Hispanic men who hung…
The Economy of Grace
Sabbath Day Thoughts — “The Economy of Grace” Matthew 18:21-35 This week marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of 9/11. In lower Manhattan on Friday, family members read aloud the names of the 2,977 people killed in the attack on the twin towers. In that field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, National Park Service employees rang bells for each…
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