Have you ever felt alone? Even for those of us who seem to be surrounded by people, the answer is often yes. Why is that? I believe it’s because so many of our interactions and conversations are superficial in nature. Rarely do we feel welcome to open up to the hurts, the challenges or even […]
How important is your birthday? I know, that’s a complicated question. Birthdays are a big deal when we’re young, but as we age, we generally pay less attention unless the birthday is divisible by five. Then, if we’re blessed with great longevity, they get more interesting. I mean, how many 100-year-old birthday parties have you […]
“Keep going.” I have to tell myself that every once in a while. My profession allows me to do lots of good, meaningful, and sometimes difficult things. It’s not unusual for a given day to be filled to the brim with any combination of them. I’m often energized by it all in the moment, but […]
Advent is a season where we remember the prophecies foretelling Jesus’ coming and anticipate the day when He will come again. We live in between those times, so where exactly is Jesus now? This is a surprisingly difficult question to answer because we see Jesus in many places at the same time, but for very […]
Discontentment is powerful. It can transform any of us into bitter, angry people, all while masquerading as something beneficial and good. Let me explain. I think we can all agree that the world isn’t as God intended it. In fact, it’s not even close. Injustice reigns, greed is rampant, moral decay is accelerating and trust […]
I don’t quite know how the tradition was started, but I like it. In many Bibles, the words of Jesus were printed in red ink. That red ink set those words apart. They seemed to jump off the page as if to say, “pay attention!” I had a time in my life when those words […]
If someone would come to our church building and ask, “Where is the sanctuary?” I have to think that everyone would point to the room with the vaulted ceilings where we gather to worship. Indeed, we call that room a “sanctuary.” Have you ever wondered why we call it that? If you look up sanctuary […]
One of my favorite plants is the crocus. If you don’t know about crocuses, you should. They are the first flowering plant to pop out of the ground in the late winter/early spring. We have several cute little bunches of white crocuses in our front yard. It never fails. Right about this time every year, […]
Certain words just don’t feel right when spoken together. For example, we wouldn’t usually describe chaos as perfect, but a “perfect chaos” could describe a particularly intense chaos. A “thundering silence” could be a deeply profound moment with no words or sounds. An “illuminating darkness” could be an evil that reveals a new reality to […]
Over the better part of the last two years, we have witnessed a decline in community. The “distancing” that was so steadily encouraged at the beginning of the pandemic has settled into a way of life. Masks hide our faces and we tend not to linger for conversation like we would before. Gatherings that would […]
