Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Parenting is perhaps the greatest act of faith I’ve undertaken. Let’s be honest: In some ways, it’s a crapshoot. In a week of fights, punishments, and long, heaving sighs, each of our children surprised us with sweet fruits. At the afterschool program….(View...
Monday, May 18, 2020
Tell me a story, she begs. And I don’t think it’s just because she’s trying to postpone bedtime. At least, that’s not the complete reason. As I weave a story, part fantasy, part recollection, my sweet daughter curls into me. Tell me a story, he asks….(View this...
Sunday, May 17, 2020
The image of the refining fire of God is a popular one in scripture, appearing several times in both the Old and New Testaments. God serves as refiner, burning away our impurities, burnishing us into a fine luster. Of all the precious metals, why does the psalmist—and...
Saturday, May 16, 2020
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
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
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
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
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
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
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...
