Timothy Hoiland

So exhausting..

Life is short. We don’t have much time to gladden the hearts of those who walk this way with us. So, be swift to love and make haste to be kind.

—Henri-Frédéric Amiel

During those years, I read a lot of Dostoyevsky. It didn’t alleviate my problems, but it did make me feel that having those problems was Dostoyevskian.

—Juan Villoro

Joan Didion wasn't trying to inspire us. She was saying beware.
timhoiland.substack.com/p/the-booksh...

The Sacred Art of Paying Attention to Your Life - Mockingbird In every moment of every day we are caught up in mysteries of divine love.

On his feast day, why not spend a little time with Augustine?
mbird.com/theology/the...

So striking that the parables are secular stories. They’re not stories that mention God. They’re stories in which God is mentioning the world.

—Rowan Williams

📷 Fisherman holding a pearl, September 2021, Puerto Peñasco, Mexico

Opinion | The New Atheists ‘Attack a God I Don’t Believe In, Either’: A Q&A With Rowan Williams

Rowan Williams on entering into the pain of others:

"The main thing is always accompaniment. You’re not there to answer questions at the theoretical level. You are there to try to embody the God who is not going away."
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/o...

You can work a lifetime trying to make the Trinity intelligible and get nowhere; you can spend five minutes on it, and begin to see its colors light the world.

—Robert Farrar Capon

The Precondition of Joy — Tim Hoiland Walter Brueggemann on the connection between grief and joy.

Walter Brueggemann (1933-2025)
www.timhoiland.com/blog/the-pre...

Bless you, Therese

[The Bookshelf #100] Easter Optimism ain't no substitute for resurrection hope.

Optimism ain't no substitute for resurrection hope.
timhoiland.substack.com/p/the-booksh...

yes and amen

Read it here: www.1mission.org/blog/meet-du...

“I want each person in these programs to develop and grow. When I look around at the people serving in this community, I see the future leaders who will teach and train others. We need them. Here they are.”

Always grateful for every opportunity to spend time in Mexico with 1MISSION and the families we serve. I especially love when I get to interview people like Dulce, a local leader in Puerto Peñasco whose commitment to service inspires me.

Let’s split the average temps and the rainfall?

"I do believe God is in it, both the source and the aim."
www.plough.com/en/topics/cu...

But hope could rise from ashes even now,
Beginning with this sign upon your brow.

—Malcolm Guite
@malcolmguite.bsky.social

What writer among us hasn’t dreamed of being part of our very own gang of Inklings? Who of us hasn’t longed for that kind of literary friendship—in a pub with a pint, no less?
timhoiland.substack.com/p/the-booksh...

[The Bookshelf #96] Chasing Me to My Grave Painting on leather, and other strategies for resisting dehumanization.

“One of the gifts we receive from art, it seems to me, is the possibility of remaining open to surprise. This too is a strategy to resist the hardening of our hearts.” @timhoiland.bsky.social

open.substack.com/pub/timhoila...

In these days of chaos and cruelty by decree, I’ve been looking for ways to stay human—strategies for resisting the outrage machine, practices for keeping a clear mind and a tender heart. Here are a few.
www.timhoiland.com/blog/chasing...

Congrats to Wes on the new book! Our copy arrived yesterday, and there’s no way I’m waiting until Easter to read it.

Beannaithe fós iad sin -
Lucht an chroí ghlain réidh;
Ba aoibhinn dóibh siúd
Is do chífid gnúis Dé.

(More blessed even still are they -
The clean and pure of heart;
Delightful it were for them
That they should see God's face.)

Beannaithe an t-ocrach ceart
Óir sástar i dtigh Dé;
'S fear na trócaire fós -
Do gheibh a nós féin.

(Blessed are the truly hungry
For they are satisfed in God's house;
And yet too the merciful -
They will receive their own practice.)

Beannaithe lucht an bhróin:
Sólás dóibh is dú;
Beannaithe lucht síth':
Clann Dé Bhí iad siúd.

(Blessed are the sorrowful:
Solace is due unto them;
Blessed are the peaceful:
They are the family of the Living God.)

YouTube video by Patrick Cassidy - Topic Na mBeannaíochtaí (The Beatitudes I)

Beannaithe na boicht:
Beidsean i dtigh Dé;
'S beannaithe an drong mhín:
Tír neimhe a dtír féin.

(Blessed are the poor:
In God's house shall they dwell;
And blessed too the gentle ones:
The land of Heaven is theirs.)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxDS...

By the end of the second century, Roman officials were not particularly aware of the nuances of Christian teaching, but they did know what the word “bishop” meant—it meant someone who kept on agitating about the needs of the poor.

—N.T. Wright (from Paul: A Biography)

YouTube video by Christianity Today Something Holy Shines by Malcolm Guite [Christianity Today January/February 2024 issue]

“All great art is a bridge with one foot in the world of comprehension—the visible, the earth—and the other foot in the realm of apprehension—the invisible, heaven.”
— @malcolmguite.bsky.social
youtu.be/bMh_EoVd_0k?...

Lives well told The surprising blessing of writing obituaries. By Vancouver writer Julie Lane-Gay, author of <em>The Riches of Your Grace: Living in the Book of Common Prayer.</em>

I'm in a writing group with Julie Lane-Gay, who wrote this fantastic reflection on the sacred art of writing obituaries.
www.faithtoday.ca/Magazines/20...

A year ago, Katie and I helped to write the obituary for her cousin Kenny, someone who meant a lot to both of us and to so many others.

Beyond the pain of losing someone you love, it's no small thing trying to condense a full life into a few hundred words.