“The Week of His Arrest”
Will the arrest of an ideological leader capture your attention this week? Why? And what story guides your choice of a “messiah”?
What’s For Christmas Dinner?
Is the seasonal story of the Christ a bite of energy that we can consume with a quick gulp? Or is it an exquisite gourmet experience with all the complexities and intrigue of a carefully-crafted holiday feast?
Because Political Outcomes Don’t Satisfy
On a day when election results are pending, on a day when uncertainty hangs like fog, on a day when fears rise like bubbles on soup, on a day when tensions are like a balloon with a nail pressing in on it, on a day when we wonder if reason and common sense will ever break through the overcast sky again–I have some thoughts I’d like to share especially with those who claim to be followers of Christ. As I consider being vulnerable while attempting to share life, encouragement and hope with those in my faith community world-wide, I decided Read More
Good Years and Solid Grace
Yesterday I worked quite energetically at putting water on dry ground, making sure my tomato plants don’t wither. I spent long minutes at each of the flower beds for which Rita cared. I was trying to imagine how deeply the moisture was penetrating the ground as I sprayed expensive water from the garden hose. In the back of my mind, I could picture the water meter in our basement spinning furiously. Just a few hours later, we were celebrating a short downpour of rain. This rain wasn’t carefully aimed at a few tomato root systems. This rain wasn’t strategically planned Read More
An Emerging Moral Portrait
When I read the phrase “moral portrait” recently, it stirred a memory of my dad. At some period in my much-younger days, I remember my dad talking about the late-in-life actions and the last words of some of the older men in his community. As several of these men lost mental awareness and as they lost verbal filters, they did and said things that were shocking–given their legacies and reputations as moral examples in the church and community. That seemed to be a personal warning and a frightening prospect for my dad. He talked about ways of preventing such a Read More
The Ditch Is Not the Road To Anywhere
I was four years old when I first became aware of the ditches on either side of our country road. I’ve never forgotten my childhood version of ditch trauma. I was hanging out with an older brother to whom had been given the job of herding a group of cattle in the ditch on the side of the road in front of our farmyard. The cattle were able to find edible grass there where the last bits of moisture in the arid Kansas summer provided some green feed. I was playing along the edge of the road when a county Read More
Who Wants To Be A (Meek) Millionaire?
Why do we value shortcuts to power, to wealth, to knowledge, and to socio-political outcomes? Why do Jesus and the apostles frame the journey to both power and wisdom in terms of meekness? (Matthew 5:5; James 3:13) My dad and mom were both rather quiet when it came to expressing opinions and judgments to others. My dad liked to think about things, and take some time with a topic before delivering a rant or strong opinion. Not always, but usually. I watched the same traits in my numerous, older siblings. I learned something I didn’t realize until later: that our Read More
Receive Love; Replace Despair
“For God so loved the world…” These are the opening words of what we call the Gospel, the Good News. Among Biblical quotations, those words are probably most often quoted and most easily recognized. But sometimes it doesn’t seem as if God actually loves the world. I could show you images and clips of news that paint this world in the darkest terms, with not a lot of hope. Even with some bright spots in the story, it seems we often desperately wish that there were an escape tunnel where we could just run and get away from the terrible, Read More
The Harshest Words of Jesus May Not Be What You Think
As a young boy, it made a lasting impression on me when our local church ousted a young man who happened to be the pastor’s son. This son had apparently reached the limits of the church’s tolerance for resistance to the system and for pushing the boundaries of personal behaviours. So, he was removed in a public ceremony at which he was not present, and was considered from that point on to be an outsider of the church community. The tears, the explanations, the sense of loss to the community had a huge impact on what I considered for my Read More
“But You’re Even Worser!”
While sharing life as kids, I was always in the company of my little brother. We found all kinds of ways to get into mischief and to get away with it. I often worked the age-advantage and tried to sound morally superior when Mom began to investigate a problem we had created. At one of those times when Mom had cornered us with the evidence of some misbehaviour, I was describing to her how Sanford had done such wrong. As best he could, my 4-year-old brother tried to set the record straight by declaring to me, “But you’re even worser!” Read More