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Bitterness, Spiritual Growth, spiritual housecleaning, Spiritual Warfare, The Merlin Chronicles Dana Rongione Bitterness, Spiritual Growth, spiritual housecleaning, Spiritual Warfare, The Merlin Chronicles Dana Rongione

The Poison We Drink

I've been spending a lot of time lately with Merlin.

Now, before you picture a pointy hat and a wand, let me clarify that I'm talking about my Merlin, the protagonist of my upcoming novel, Hope Refined. And this particular Merlin is having a really, really bad day. Actually, make that a really bad season of life.

You see, Merlin has just watched King David, a man he respected and who was supposed to be the model of a great king, sin in a spectacular and devastating way. Betrayal. Corruption. The kind of thing that shakes your faith in people right down to the foundation. And Merlin is furious. Righteously, completely, humanly furious.

And honestly? I get it.

There's something in all of us that ignites when we witness injustice. When someone we trusted lets us down. When the person who was supposed to stand for right chooses wrong instead.

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Thoughts, Meditation, Spiritual Growth, The Word of God Dana Rongione Thoughts, Meditation, Spiritual Growth, The Word of God Dana Rongione

Is Biblical Meditation Really Just Wasting Time?

Some mornings, if you peeked into the quiet corner of my office, you might think I was doing nothing at all. My Bible would be open beside me, my mug of tea growing cold, and I would just be staring out the window.

From the outside, it looks suspiciously like laziness. But inside, my mind is bustling. I'm turning a verse over and over, like a jeweler turning a diamond in the light. I've read it, studied it, maybe even looked up a few words, but the real work begins when I stop "doing" and start meditating.

The world says meditation is about emptying the mind, clearing out thoughts like you're sweeping a cluttered floor. But the Bible paints a completely different picture. The blessed man "delight[s] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night." That is not an empty mind. That is a very full one.

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Spiritual Warfare, weary, armor of God, Chronic Illness, Encouragement, Spiritual Growth Dana Rongione Spiritual Warfare, weary, armor of God, Chronic Illness, Encouragement, Spiritual Growth Dana Rongione

Putting on the Armor When You’re Tired

Last week, Jason and I finally did it. We hauled out the old, falling-apart dressers and replaced them with a shiny new (well, new to us) three-door wardrobe. Jason built in some shelves, I found the perfect baskets, and over the course of a few days, we went through every piece of clothing we had stuffed in those poor drawers.

Some things were easy to let go of: old, worn-out pieces that had lived a good life. Others I just never reached for anymore. But I'll be honest, there were more items than I'd like to admit that simply didn't fit anymore. I wish I could say that some had gotten too big, but sadly, that was NOT the case. Either way, they weren't doing me any good.

As I stood there, holding up yet another item that no longer fit and muttering something unladylike under my breath, a thought hit me: Sometimes the armor of God feels exactly like this.

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Burnout, Weary, Spiritual Growth, Positive Life, Deadly Darts of the Devil, Spiritual Warfare, Animals of the Bible Dana Rongione Burnout, Weary, Spiritual Growth, Positive Life, Deadly Darts of the Devil, Spiritual Warfare, Animals of the Bible Dana Rongione

Is Your World Flying Upside Down?

I learned something recently in my Animals of the Bible study that completely rearranged my brain.

It turns out, moths aren't actually attracted to light at all. I know. I know! Everything we thought we knew about moths is a lie. Well, not a lie exactly, but definitely not the whole story.

Here's what's really going on. Because moths fly in complete darkness, they face a very real problem: how do you know which way is up when you can't see anything? God, being the brilliant Designer He is, solved this problem by giving moths a built-in reflex to always keep their backs toward the brightest light. For thousands of years, that worked perfectly. The sky, lit by the sun or the moon, was always the brightest thing around. Back to the sky, fly straight. Simple. Elegant. Genius.

Then we humans had to invent electricity and artificial light.

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