‘How wonderful to express your pain through writing,’ people often enthuse. ‘It must be so cathartic!’ Yes—and no. On the one hand, I find it helpful to get my feelings onto paper or screen. Seeing things in black and white can give me clarity about my problems, not to mention perspective. Sometimes, when I write […]
My songs
Updates on my latest original songs
Here She is: the Angel At My Keyboard
Last year I wrote a song called Angel At My Keyboard, written about and for the daughter I never had. It tells the story of a little girl who learns to play the keyboard, and I teach her. Music becomes something we share. It’s total fantasy, of course, like most of our hopes and dreams for […]
In Between
In February 2020, mere weeks before COVID-19 happened, I had a medical scare. I had been sick and was awaiting some test results. The symptoms I was having and the kinds of tests the doctor had ordered all painted a very grim picture indeed. As each day passed, bringing me inevitably closer to the results […]
A Sacrifice Of Praise?
I grew up in church worship ministry. I have seen the highs and lows of this ministry, endured much heartache and had some amazing, life-changing experiences. (Maybe one day I will write a book about surviving worship ministry.) I have also developed a few pet peeves. One of them is the oft-repeated concept of the […]
Love Is A Diamond
Love has many facets. It can be fun, passionate, enduring, broken, healed, playful, reverent, bold, intimate, verbose and silent. It has highs and lows and plateaus. It can have different chapters, like a book, and it can deepen and mellow with age, like a fine wine. It can be like a multi-faceted diamond. This presents […]
Fragrance
‘One thing I have asked of the Lord, And that I will seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in his presence] All the days of my life, To gaze upon the beauty [the delightful loveliness and majestic grandeur] of the Lord And to meditate in his temple.’ (Psalm 27:4 Amplified) […]
Linger
When I was a kid, I loved going on sleepovers. It was about the whispered sharing of secrets and stories by torchlight while snuggled in sleeping bags. It was about gorging ourselves on junk food. It was about movie marathons and video game tournaments. It was definitely about not having any grown-ups around. But it […]
Unrestrained
I used to be self-conscious about worshipping God in public. As a teenager, I would look around church on a Sunday morning, watching other worshippers engaging rapturously in songs of praise. They would sing, eyes closed, some with arms lifted, expressing their adoration for Jesus. Some of the less self-conscious ones would dance on the […]
The Worship Suite
Ever since I can remember, I have loved singing to God. When I was a child, I would put on kids’ praise and worship cassette tapes (yes, I am betraying my age here) and sing my lungs out. I know that I sang my lungs out because my parents would tell me. In no uncertain […]
Lives on the Line – A Reprise
He caught my eye as he walked past my seat on the train. Dressed in dark, drab clothing, with sunken cheekbones and a weather-worn face, he held the air of one who had nowhere to go. He sank into the seat behind me and leaned heavily against the window. He will be here til the […]