While working in my yard the other day, I was startled by something moving in the bushes. Once I calmed down and saw what was happening, I ran to get my camera. A harmless (to me) garter snake had its jaws around a live toad and over the next half hour gave me a chance […]
What do the questions we ask, or don’t ask, say… About us? About our thoughts of one another? About what we think we already know? What about the questions we ask, or don’t ask, about God? Why am I asking? Maybe because I’ve been listening to conversations, to the way people like us sometimes talk […]
Dietrich Bonhoeffer is widely remembered as a German author and pastor who was arrested in 1943 for his role in resisting the policies of the Nazi government. While in prison he continued to write and was assisted by sympathetic guards who smuggled his letters to the outside. He was executed on 9 April 1945 as […]
There may be a point in the distinction between hating the sin and loving the sinner. But it’s risky business. And some of us might be better off leaving the job to someone else. By now, more than a few of us have probably discovered that it is hard to point our finger at anyone […]
Yesterday, the wife of one of our friends let us know that her husband, BruceC, has passed into the presence of his Lord. As I read MaryLou’s note, and followed the heartfelt words that a number of you so thoughtfully expressed to her, I sensed our shared affections for a man most of us have […]
When I began the last post saying, “Some of us have been around long enough to see that the Bible we treasure has been used to multiply the pain of racial minorities, women, the poor, the mentally ill, the divorced, abused, addicted, unemployed, and prisoners” I was writing from my heart, and from personal experience. I […]
Somewhere I picked up the idea that the Bible says, “You can learn more from your critics than your friends.” Seemed to make so much sense that enemies are more likely than our friends to point out our faults, mistakes and blind sides. But I’ve just spent some time trying unsuccessfully to find “what I […]
One of our friends asked a good question in response to the last post. Does anyone have a valid reason for being angry with God? Our answer to that question, as well as our thoughts about “anger with God” may depend on the extent to which we are inclined to “be right” or to “do […]
Saul was a big man, good looking, and remembered for a consuming anger that was fed by his fears. David, Saul’s successor, could also be noted for his appearance–as for his adultery, many wives, messed up family, abuse of power, and conspiracy to commit murder. Instead, however, we remember David primarily for his music, a […]
More than a few of us know that some of the coldest, darkest times of our lives have been spent under the lights of Christmas– surrounded by the warmth of others singing Joy to the world. Recalling those moments, we might wonder why the lights, sounds, and good will of the happiest time of the […]
