These letters began as words to Ray, a brother and friend. They explore what it means to live from Christ, who is already our life, and to express that shared life with one another.
Read the newest letters · Choose a letter by theme
Latest Three Letters
The Blessing of Remaining
Christ Himself is the treasure within the silence: the eternal fellowship of the Father and the Son, deeper than loss and beyond explanation.
The One Thing, Brother
A quiet reflection on the Son’s eternal communion with the Father becoming the inward reality of prayer, suffering, and abiding.
Dear Ray: The One Thing
A personal letter to Ray about remaining in Christ amid ordinary demands, distraction, and spiritual dryness.
Begin Here
Why I’m Writing These Letters — The opening letter on friendship, humility, and living from Christ Himself.
New here? Meet the writer or explore Words in These Letters for brief explanations of terms such as Zoe (divine life) and abiding.
Find a Letter for This Moment
You do not need to read everything in order. Begin with the question closest to your own experience, and follow the letters at your own pace. When an older title speaks of leaving, returning, or beginning again, I mean changes in attention and dependence within the union already ours in Christ.
When you wonder whether you will see what you have hoped for
What We May Never See considers Abraham, Joseph, David, Moses, and Daniel—and the possibility of carrying something precious without being given its completion within our lifetime.
When Christian life feels like another burden
Begin with When I Leave the Source, then read The Difficulty of Beginning Again. Finish with Must You Become Like Us to Belong?—on the freedom to belong without performing.
When you long for quieter prayer
Begin with The Quiet Turning of the Heart. Continue with One Thought, One Hope, One Calling, then What I Remember from Santa Barbara—a glimpse of life shared with others.
When you wonder what spiritual growth really means
Begin with The Vision That Never Cooks. Continue with We Know Because We Are Living It, then Remembering Forward—on hope within our unfinished lives.
When you need care or wonder where you belong
Begin with When We Are the Ones Who Need Care, on the same Christ living in the member who gives and the member who receives. Continue with When Our Care Is Rejected, on bringing our hurt to Christ and receiving His life where our care has left us wounded. Then read Must You Become Like Us to Belong? and What I Remember from Santa Barbara for a glimpse of Zoe flowing among the members.
When you feel spiritually dry
Begin with The Blessing of Remaining, on Christ’s communion with the Father continuing within suffering and silence. Read The One Thing, Brother for a reflection on that eternal fellowship as the reality of abiding. Continue with When You Feel Nothing, then If Zoe Is Never Allowed to Triumph.
When disagreement takes over
Begin with When Brothers Disagree and Nobody Wins. Continue with Who Corrects the Person Who Says, “The Spirit Led Me”?, then The Cross Reaches the Critic, Too. Let the question reach our own need to prevail.
When gifted people leave little room for others
Begin with The Quiet Member We Never Learned to Hear, then When No One Takes Charge. Continue with Religion Follows You Home, on the religious self we can carry into a new setting.
All Dear Ray Letters
Read the published letters below, beginning with the newest.
The Blessing of Remaining
Christ Himself is the treasure within the silence: the eternal fellowship of the Father and the Son, deeper than loss and beyond explanation.
The One Thing, Brother
A quiet reflection on the Son’s eternal communion with the Father becoming the inward reality of prayer, suffering, and abiding.
Dear Ray: The One Thing
A personal letter to Ray about remaining in Christ amid ordinary demands, distraction, and spiritual dryness.
Dear Ray — What We May Never See
A letter about carrying something precious of God’s purpose without being given its completion within our lifetime.
Dear Ray: The Fellowship We Have Forsaken
Dear Ray, I remember the saints who made room for me. Their shared life brings me back to a present question: will I let Christ have His way in me?
If Zoe Is Never Allowed to Triumph
Dear Ray, what happens if we spend our lives speaking about Zoe without allowing the life of God within us to have His way?
When No One Takes Charge
A Dear Ray letter on Christ’s Headship, the surrender of gifted control, and making room for Zoe to find expression through every member.
The Quiet Member We Never Learned to Hear
The quiet member is indispensable. A letter on receiving Christ through overlooked members rather than measuring spiritual supply by eloquence.
Religion Follows You Home
Leaving religious institutions does not end the religious self. A letter on the cross reaching our pride, control, and need to be right.
Who Corrects the Person Who Says, “The Spirit Led Me”?
No claim of spiritual leading makes a member unquestionable. A letter on Christ’s Headship, shared discernment, and receiving correction.
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