I’m a leaver. I left the church. I was on my way out in my late twenties, but didn’t completely cut the cord until I was in my yearly thirties. I stayed completely away for seven years. That may not seem like a long time, but for someone who was raised in the pews, someone… Read more

Proper 17, 2023Matthew 16.21-28 Psychology was the bad guy. Since we are spiritual beings, anything having to do with how we think or feel was a spiritual matter, and psychology denied that reality, replacing God with the self as the center of one’s life. Psychology was self-help, self-centered, self-serving. It was all about making a… Read more

Friends, welcome to The Book of Common Words, where we explore the Christian spirituality of being human through poetry and prose about my life, art, and the Christian faith. I’m your writer, Aaron. This publication is 100% reader supported. Thanks for joining me in this exploration. It wasn’t a peaceful arrival. Here, into our sorrows… Read more

I used to crave a book deal. As a young, “Christian” writer, I felt that if only I could sign a publishing contract, then I could really be used by God. If I had a platform from which to speak, something that people paid attention to, then I could do some good in the church… Read more