In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul says that three abide: faith, hope, and love. Perhaps few words are as precious to us as followers of Jesus as these three terms. But what do they mean? Even these wonderful words have been distorted in our culture and unfortunately by some Christians over… Continue reading
Today is the tomorrow I worried about yesterday and the yesterday I will feel guilty about tomorrow. I don’t remember when I first heard those words, but the truth they communicated hit me like a ton of bricks. For too much of my life I have spent energy worrying over… Continue reading
(6 minutes) “If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people” -Thich Nhat Hanh Recently… Continue reading
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor and theologian who was one of the leaders of the Confessing Church in Germany in its opposition to Hitler and Nazism. Bonhoeffer was arrested by the Nazis, imprisoned, tortured, and executed on April 9, 1945, just weeks before the Allies liberated the prison in… Continue reading
It may seem strange to jump from Christmas to Jesus’ baptism, from his birth to his early to mid-thirties. But in making that leap, we are following the Scriptures. With the exception of Luke’s account of a family pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem when Jesus was 12 years old,… Continue reading
When we say God is “eternal,” we mean that God is eternally young. (Meister Eckhart) The traditional image of God as an old man encrusted in tradition and sitting on a throne encased with the cobwebs of eternity just doesn’t seem appropriate at Christmas when we celebrate the coming of… Continue reading
Years ago I heard an amusing story from one of my ministerial colleagues. There was a duck hunter named Sam who bought a fully trained retriever from a farmer in the Midwest. On the way home from picking up the dog, the hunter stopped at a pond to test the… Continue reading
I believe Etty Hillesum was one of those rare people whose epitaph could read “In the worst of times she did the best of things.” The cruel, depraved, hate-filled world of Nazi Europe was the time and space in which she had to live. And in spite of all the inhumanity she witnessed and suffered, Etty Hillesum reached out in love and compassion to her fellow humans, forgave those who dealt cruelly with her and her people, and found in the Living God more power, truth, and love than I can ever imagine possible. Continue reading
John Powell, a Jesuit priest and psychologist, told of his experience with the death of his father. It was during a cold January in a small hospital that Powell’s father breathed his last. Powell was supporting his father in his arms while his mother was seated by the bedside praying…. Continue reading
In a church I pastored years ago I was humbled and taught by a pre-kindergarten child. Angela sat with her mother Linda in our sanctuary before our worship service began. She turned and said to her mother, “Mommy, we need to go home. We can’t have church.” Linda asked her… Continue reading
