I got stuck in the Houston airport for several days last week during bad weather, and I had a chance to cross paths with some strangers and hear a few stories.

“We only know who we are when we find ourselves caught in the loving gaze of another person.” In part 2 of last week’s episode, we’ll explore what it means to pay attention and discover that someone has been lovingly paying attention to us. This is how we find that we are surrounded by a Story and invited to join in its telling.

Ep. 18 is part two of a talk given by Matthew Clark at Cofferstowe 2016 called, “The Costly Craft of Paying Attention”.

“Listening evokes stories” says epistemologist Esther Lightcap Meek, and the common call as God’s image-bearers might be to become attentive, if we are to dwell deeply in a Great Story, which is critical to becoming storytellers ourselves.

Ep. 17 is part one of a talk Matthew Clark at Cofferstowe 2016 called, “The Costly Craft of Paying Attention”.

Today, and Old Testament story from Elisha the Prophet got me thinking about the strangeness of Easter and last week’s mercifully baffling story of Jesus walking to the cross. I’ll also share a new single called “Meet Me Here” that I recorded and released this Easter.

I talk to myself when I’m alone (and I bet you do too)! I’m a verbal processor, and this week I’m sharing an imagined conversation about “Magic Words” and learning to live in the story God is telling.

I sing like a bird about birds singing on this week’s episode. I’ll tell the story behind an original song called “Come True” and share an live-in-studio recording. The song is from the album “Beautiful Secret Life (Bonus Songs)”, available on my website (www.matthewclark.net) and all online platforms.

Here’s the second half of Christa Wells’ talk on Imagination from Cofferstowe 2016. Visit www.cofferstowe.com to learn more and register for Cofferstowe 2019 this June 14-17 in Cincinnati, OH!

Singer/Songwriter Christa Wells is featured this week sharing part one of a talk she gave at Cofferstowe 2016 called, “Imagination: Seeing the Far Side of the Mountain”. Cofferstowe 2019 is coming this June. Visit cofferstowe.com for more information and to register.

This week my brother Sam suggested I write about joy and obedience – a word-pairing that seemed strange me for a long time, and registration is open for the Cofferstowe Art & Faith retreat at cofferstowe.com!

This week, on Episode 10, I’ll share about a hard and normal part of everyone’s life and creative process, hopefully light a little votive candle in some way, and close with a poem about remembering that we’re not alone.