The Beatitude Chronicles is J. Steve Bruner's Substack, where he shares creative and thought-provoking articles each week. In his own words: Each time I sit to write, I envision a magnificent cathedral, its towering arches crowned with stained glass windows casting vibrant hues of light upon the floor. A weary pilgrim steps through the threshold, drawn to the sacred stillness, seeking refuge from the ceaseless rush of life. The air is thick with incense, and the soft glow of candles flickers...
Other Writing
A Symphony of Dendrites and Stillness
Ah, snow—the dazzling guest that arrives uninvited yet always steals the show. But have you ever stopped to wonder why snow does more than just blanket the ground in white? Why does the world seem to hold its breath after a snowfall, as though nature itself is pausing for reflection? The answer lies in the intricate beauty of snow dendrites, those tiny, star-like wonders that hold a secret far beyond their stunning appearance.
Dendrites: Snowflakes with a...
I remember the moment as if it were etched into the fabric of time itself—a seven-year-old boy in Albany, Georgia, wandering the aisles of the Woolworth store, my small hand wrapped in my mother’s. The air was thick with the scent of fresh popcorn and waxed linoleum, but beyond the doors, something greater stirred. A song, not just melody but movement, rose like an anthem on the wind: We shall overcome.
Curiosity pulled me toward the doorway, my feet crossing the threshold between the ordinary...
It was one of those unplanned adventures that life occasionally gifts you, the kind you never see coming but end up changing you forever. My good friend Byron Foster had suggested it—a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon—and though I hadn’t given it much thought at the time, his enthusiasm was infectious. Before I knew it, I stepped into the adventure of a lifetime, a journey into the heart of one of the most breathtaking creations on Earth for seven days and nights.
The river had stilled,...