“Inconceivable!”
When my sister and I were kids, we—like, I suspect, most kids who celebrate Christmas—were absolutely obsessed with our presents as they appeared under the Christmas tree. We would find them, shake them, do our best to figure out what was in them before the big day arrived and we could finally open them.
“Tears of Triumph”
I suspect that sometimes Mike watches movies and programs he knows I won’t like because he thinks my reaction is more entertaining than the movies themselves.
“A Wee Little Man”
The Narrative Lectionary brings two stories together that don’t seem to have much to do with one another, except that they both take place in or near Jericho, the final stop before Jesus arrives at the Mount of Olives to prepare for his entry into Jerusalem.
“The dogs treat me better than you do”
When I worked at Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, I was responsible for helping plan, set up, and run the annual Collins Lecture series. We had various people come to speak about matters of faith, including Huston Smith, Hans Küng (before my time, but his being invited to speak got EMO in hot water with the Catholic archdiocese), Allan Boesak from South Africa, and author Kathleen Norris. There was a Friday night lecture, and then two on Saturday.
“The dead’s alive and the lost is found”
Well, of course I didn’t want to go to that party. Would you have?
I mean, my little brother, who had taken Dad’s money and run off to God knows where, to do God knows what, had come home crying crocodile tears, like he’d always done when he knew he was in trouble and wanted to keep from getting punished. Dad was being played just like he’d been played so many times before by that little brat, and he didn’t even realize it.
“The Journey Is Our Home”
Some time ago—probably before every state and municipality passed laws against messing with your phone while you’re driving—there was a church sign that went viral. It said: “Honk if you love Jesus. Text while driving if you want to meet him!”
“Just Like Elijah”
Everyone was, of course, sorry to hear about his death. He was very young, not even married yet, but he was already well on his way to being a solid man in town.
“Correct me if I’m wrong”
In his commentary for Working Preacher, Wesley Allen said we’ve got a tough row to hoe preaching on Jesus’ relationship with the Sabbath.[1] The main reason is because most folks who are going to hear sermons on this subject today do not care about the Sabbath.
“A New Fishing Hole”
When a person gets a job for the first time, they have to learn a few things beyond just the mechanics of how to do the actual work. There are social skills involved that are different from those that help us get along in school or among our friends. For some jobs you have to learn how to talk on the phone in a professional manner, and how to have professional relationships with co-workers, with whom you may very well not be friends—or even like all that much. You have to learn how to relate to a supervisor, and what an individual boss expects of you, how and how often they want you to be in touch if you have to be out sick, that kind of thing.
“An Inaugural Address Like No Other”
I’m old enough now that there have been fully fourteen presidential inaugurations in my lifetime (although I don’t remember them all). Come Wednesday, that number will be fifteen.
“…and then a bird landed on his head”
Luke 3:1-22 If you read my newsletter column this month, you know I’m not in the habit of making New Year’s resolutions. I don’t think most of them get kept very far into the new year—at least that’s been the case for me when I have made them. And most […]