Saturday, May 16, 2020 | Reflections
A family friend made his fortune and retired early. He bought and renovated a large cattle ranch, turning one of the dwellings into a Christian retreat center. At the entrance was the sign: “Welcome to Narrowgate.” Across the driveway stretched a cattle ….(View...
Friday, May 15, 2020 | Reflections
Maybe you’ve heard it this way: “When you point at someone else, three fingers point back at you.” In other words, when you cast blame on someone else, you should also take stock of your own culpability. There’s usually plenty of blame to go around. ….(View this...
Thursday, May 14, 2020 | Reflections
From the Archives: December 3, 1942None of us believes that God wills war: it is contrary to the whole spirt of Christ, and we seek to banish it from the earth. But we do believe that God sometimes works in war, through bravery, sacrifice, a….(View this reading...
Wednesday, May 13, 2020 | Reflections
Although I am not a biblical literalist, I wonder if this is one passage we are meant to take quite literally. I’ve been reading about the Art of Neighboring, an initiative that asks neighbors to move beyond platitude to authentic relationship. The...
Tuesday, May 12, 2020 | Reflections
In the same way Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, we pray the Lord’s Prayer at most worship services. For me, the prayer is sometimes rote, flowing from my mouth as automatically as a blessing after someone sneezes. But at other times, the prayer is potent and...
Monday, May 11, 2020 | Reflections
On my birthday, I hoped the lectionary would give me some sweet passage, the kind that turned easily into a Hallmark card or inspirational meme. Instead, we start with atonement sacrifices in Leviticus and end with this stern warning against swagger and preening in...
Sunday, May 10, 2020 | Reflections
Greta Thunberg doesn’t seem like a likely prophet. Yet at sixteen years old, she shamed the United Nations’ General Assembly for their unwillingness to take substantive and swift action to combat climate change, and she inspired millions of people to join the...
Saturday, May 9, 2020 | Reflections
It’s a lot to handle, this world. Angry, determined people stand firm and unwavering on all sides of every issue. In the United States, we are rocked to and fro by a vicious election season in which it feels like the only possible outcome is absolute victory or...
Friday, May 8, 2020 | Reflections
Doesn’t it just seem like when it rains, it pours? A bad day at work ends with a fussy child and a grouchy spouse and a car with a suspicious rattle. Or a call from the doctor for an urgent follow-up comes the same week a valued friendship has gone off the...
Thursday, May 7, 2020 | Reflections
From the Archives: April 1, 1946 “Serve” is one of Christ’s own words. And where shall his servants serve? Right where he is, at home, those nearest him, his neighbor. Today we look upon a mos….(View this reading and more resources for prayer at Daily Prayer: A...
Wednesday, May 6, 2020 | Reflections
Few things drive God crazier than stubbornness. More than forty verses in the Bible criticize the traits of a stiff-necked people—the hardened heart, the refusal to be led, the haughtiness of certainty. God knows—God knows—we are a stubborn people. We….(View...
Tuesday, May 5, 2020 | Reflections
During college, I traveled to Israel to study the Holocaust and the role of the Righteous Gentiles, people who risked their lives to save those who had been targeted by the Nazis. I wondered: What compelled them to act? One afternoon, I visited the Dead...
Monday, May 4, 2020 | Reflections
Whenever this bit about wives submitting to husbands comes up, I roll my eyes and tune out: Paul’s record is both laudable and tainted, and this seems to be part of the latter. But for a moment, let’s give Paul the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps Paul’s….(View...
Sunday, May 3, 2020 | Reflections
Pepper doesn’t like the gate. Our daughter’s horse is full of personality, doting at times and persnickety at others, but for some reason, the gate into the arena always spooks her. Our daughter competes in rodeos, racing on Pepper around barrels and po….(View...
Saturday, May 2, 2020 | Reflections
This passage sounds a bit like an IKEA instruction manual. Put the poles in slots A and B, the ark of the covenant on Panel Q, slide the mercy seat over rods #245 and #246. Every time I read this section of Exodus, I wonder about God’s purposes in the...
