Life is messy. Sometimes, we lose touch with God in the mess, but usually, he is found in the mess. Over a period of forty years as a pastor, I have had to deal with families in distress, children who were unmanageable, divorces, suicides, racism, men and women who have sought release from toxic religion, religious bigotry, Christian judgmentalism, tragic loss of loved ones, disenchantment with organized religion, and youth and adults who wavered between faith and doubt and feeling guilty about it. I have had conversations with atheists and agnostics who were interested in spirituality but could not find a church or a form of Christianity that would listen to their stories and their struggle to find peace outside themselves. I have stood next to hospital beds, watching patients slowly lose touch with life and reality. These short stories represent God winks I received when thinking about the raw edges of life, stories sprinkled with both humor and honest reflection.

--Ted Cole

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