If we relied on Mark, we would have to stretch to get a story worth a Christmas carol. Mark has no shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night, no Mary, no Joseph, no manger, no wise men, no Herod.
Thanksgiving Supper
November 22, 2023 by Leave a Comment
At 10:30 on Thanksgiving Day, I am standing in a long line waiting for a box of Thanksgiving. We are not in a restaurant, as you might expect, but in a nondescript building—a VFW hall, Rotary Club hall, or Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall.
The Struggle to Cope with Time
August 15, 2023 by
The prayer, “So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart,” serves as the turning point in the larger prayer of Psalm 90. The human experience of time is a major theme of the psalm as a whole.
A Place at the Table
July 25, 2023 by
Sometimes it’s easier to be a man. Your last name is not an issue. Wedding plans take care of themselves. Mechanics tell you the truth. You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is “just too icky.” Three pairs of shoes are more than enough. The same hairstyle lasts for years.
Caring for Country
July 4, 2023 by
Even standing in line at the National Archives is inspiring. The original Declaration of Independence is on the left: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness . . . . That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
Time and Patience
May 9, 2023 by
In my work with mediation and conflict resolution, there are two major tools: time and patience.
Justice, Kindness, Humility
March 1, 2023 by
One morning in my eighth grade social studies class, the teacher said, “The world is one-third Christian, twenty percent Muslim, and thirteen percent Hindu.” We thought that was the goofiest thing we had ever heard. Where I grew up in Mississippi, there were four religions—Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and heathen.
Catching a Glimpse
December 27, 2022 by
The first Christmas comes and goes, and most people don’t notice. Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and a few others catch a glimpse of what is happening, but they’re just a handful.
Death and Life
October 26, 2022 by
We lose so many good people. When Jesus finally arrives at his friends’ home, Lazarus has been dead for four days.
Crossroads: Being Busy
July 25, 2022 by
I like to be busy. If I’m watching TV or even a movie, I want to also being doing something else so that I don’t feel like I’m wasting time. So when I watch a movie or TV show at home, I also find myself looking at Facebook, my email, or even playing an online game like Candy Crush.
Lent Is a Time to Adjust
March 8, 2022 by
The church year has brought us to Lent, the time of penitence and self-reflection before Good Friday and Easter Sunday. I once heard it said that you can’t have Easter without Lent; how could you know the joy of the mountaintop without the realities of the valley?
Formations 08.01.2021: A Time to Belong
July 25, 2021 by
We all want to feel that we belong. From those first moments of playground choices to school lunchroom seats to office conversations over the tops of cubicles, we are often afraid of being excluded.
Homeward Bound
May 18, 2021 by
“I want to go home” is not just the plaintive cry of kindergarten students on the first day of school; it is the longing of every person who pays attention to his or her heart. For some, nothing is better than going home.
The Wind and the Spirit
March 23, 2021 by
What would you do differently if you could start over? What would you change if you could be born again? If I could edit my life, I would skip junior high football, wrecking my father’s car, and the last five minutes of my first date. I would stop my mother throwing away my baseball cards.
Lent Is a Time to Adjust
March 17, 2021 by
I once heard it said that you can’t have Easter without Lent; how could you know the joy of the mountaintop without the realities of the valley?
Connections 12.06.2020: The Waiting Time
November 29, 2020 by
Do you like roller coasters? I confess that I liked them better when I was a younger woman. After the most recent time I rode one, it took me a couple of hours to recover from motion sickness.
Formations 10.21.2018: Crossing the Threshold
October 14, 2018 by
There’s a scene in The Time Machine (MGM, 1960) that doesn’t appear in the H. G. Wells novel on which the movie is based. During a climactic battle in the far future, George, the time traveler (played by Rod Taylor), is finally reunited with his time machine.
Connections 01.21.2018: A Second Time
January 14, 2018 by
Mr. James Boggs died a few weeks ago. He was my Little League Baseball coach. He taught me many lessons; one in particular has stayed with me through the almost half-century that has passed since those days. I was at bat. I don’t remember all the details, but I know that we had at least one runner on base.
Praying Time
August 15, 2017 by
Though there are times for which it seems that prayer does not work, times when it seems like the power of God has hit a dry spell, we are encouraged to keep praying. But, if I am honest, sometimes it is hard to keep the conversation with God going.
Connections 01.22.2017: The Speed of Light
January 15, 2017 by
Light travels at 186 thousand miles per second. That means it travels about six trillion miles in a year, so that’s the distance in a light year. The sun is “only” about 0.000016 of a light year (93 million miles) from Earth; its light reaches us in about eight minutes twenty seconds.
Formations 11.13.2016: Sing in Time
November 6, 2016 by
When I walk into a new sanctuary, I find a pew, pull out the hymnal, and look through it. I see if anyone’s names have been embossed on the lower right corner. I check to see how the church decided to phrase the words on the bookplate dedicating its use to the Lord’s worship.
A View from the Pew: Less Summer to Do Summer Ministry
July 20, 2016 by
If you have school-aged children in your life, it’s no secret that summer isn’t what it used to be. Here are five tips to ease the pressure and help your children’s spiritual formation remain at the top of your summer priority list.
Formations 05.01.2016: Biding our Time
April 24, 2016 by
On an average day between 6:30am and 7:30am, you’re probably waking up and getting ready for the day. Then you either head to work, run errands, do housework, or take care of others in your home.
A View from the Pew: Losing the Game Against Sports
September 22, 2015 by
There are three ways you can tell what people care about: what they talk about, how they spend their time, and how they spend their money. The scoreboard in church vs. sports shows sports with a sizable lead in all three categories.
God in a Hurry
May 20, 2015 by
Recently, computer problems at work caused me to have to shut down my computer and restart it. This was a routine delay of two minutes, maybe three, while my computer reset and I reentered my password.