Forward Day By Day – October 27, 2020

Have you ever heard of the Sasanian Empire? How about the Chola Dynasty? Know anything about the Empire of Trebizond? All of these ancient realms were more powerful than Israel ever was, yet they have been mostly forgotten in modern history.Tiny, relatively powerless...

Forward Day By Day – October 26, 2020

I love the humor in this line! Sirach admonishes us not to gossip—but he does much more. He offers us many practical suggestions in today’s reading.We all share stories—that’s how we form bonds, strengthen communities, and claim what we stand for. Yet, told...

Forward Day By Day – October 25, 2020

There’s no question that Christianity is facing some serious challenges in the public sphere in the United States. As at other times in history, people in power have co-opted Christ for their own ends.Paul gives us a recipe for a radically different approach, much...

Forward Day By Day – October 24, 2020

We once lived on seven acres of high desert outside Silver City, New Mexico. One gift of living there was observing the abundant wildlife. A bobcat spent one afternoon resting under our tree. Another time I encountered a snake by our birdseed bin. In both cases,...

Forward Day By Day – October 23, 2020

Today we remember James of Jerusalem, one of Jesus’ brothers. Some believe that James was Jesus’ biological brother, while others disagree. Nevertheless, James clearly knew Jesus as a very human brother, with faults and failings like his own. As it was for others in...

Forward Day By Day – October 22, 2020

From the Archives: August 28, 1955/January 14, 1949 What the prophets taught holds good. God is loving and merciful but God’s purpose will not be balked. We ask: Why has the world fallen into such a fearful plight?God answers….(View this reading and more...

Forward Day By Day – October 21, 2020

Is confession becoming a lost art? We seem to have lost the ability or willingness to be vulnerable—before God and others—or with ourselves. We don’t seem to recognize the value of opening our hearts and souls to God’s great grace.This doesn’t mean we don’t...

Forward Day By Day – October 20, 2020

So, where did Jesus get seventy followers? We tend to think there were just twelve disciples, but there were women following him too—and they weren’t there to cook and clean. Several of the women who followed Jesus had money of their own and helped fund his...

Forward Day By Day – October 19, 2020

I recently led a workshop on spiritual autobiography as part of a daylong retreat on embracing mortality. The focus of this workshop was on the trajectory of our spiritual lives, our awareness of and attentiveness to God over the course of our lives, and our spiritual...

Forward Day By Day – October 18, 2020

More than twenty years ago, our baby grandson was diagnosed with stage-four neuroblastoma—a cancerous growth the size of a soda can in his fourteen-month-old abdomen. In addition to medical treatment, we rallied the prayer troops—in our church and around the world, as...

Forward Day By Day – October 17, 2020

Perhaps the United States of America has always been an antagonistic society, founded as it was on being against England, against monarchy. Certainly, contemporary American culture seems to thrive on choosing sides and defending them mightily—be it a baseball team, a...

Forward Day By Day – October 16, 2020

I’m fortunate to live within a day’s drive of two abysses: Arizona’s Grand Canyon and Wall Street, a desert pathway surrounded by vertical, towering orange walls on a well-traveled hike in Bryce Canyon, Utah.It is virtually impossible to see Wall Street from the...

Forward Day By Day – October 15, 2020

From the Archives: April 15, 1955In the vision of the cross, death loses all meaning for us since death is coupled to our rising up again. The spoils of Jesus’ cross are ours. When we seek the will of God in all….(View this reading and more resources for prayer...

Forward Day By Day – October 14, 2020

Jesus sends the twelve disciples to minister in his name, giving them the same power and authority! I find it startling that Christians don’t talk more about how Jesus shared his healing power so freely with his followers—and how Jesus still shares this power, calling...