I try not to be wasteful. I try not to buy too much food at the grocery store and I take leftovers home from restaurants. We have a section of our laundry room dedicated to “give-aways,” the clothes and other things we can’t use any more, but which might be useful to our favorite charity’s thrift shop. Although I love …
The question of why people suffer is a longstanding existential question. It is a question that brings people to God and it’s a question that makes some people doubt God’s very existence. Why do bad things happen to good people? The Bible approaches this from several angles. That frustrates some people, but I find it encouraging. I like that the …
What if repentance is an invitation, not a curse? Sometimes it feels like “REPENT” is almost a four-letter word. As if it’s a curse word, intended to bring out the worst in me. Growing up, this was the message of the street-corner preachers yelling at cars as they passed by. (Presumably they were yelling at the people in the cars, …
Lent can, and should be, a season of transformation. It bridges the turn on the calendar from winter to spring and it can bridge the turn in us from the wilderness of self-sufficiency to reliance on God. Along the way, however, we may feel things get a little twisted. The scripture readings that launched us into the season of Lent …
Do you like to do puzzles? My father was a master at doing puzzles. He had the patience to find the flat edged pieces first and then organize the rest by color. Actually, he had a great lifehack for puzzle assembly. He laid a science fair backboard on the table and assembled his puzzle on that. When he wanted to …
I think the most universally known Bible passage is not John 3:16, but “the Golden Rule.” Even if we can’t point to chapter and verse (Matthew 7:12; Luke 6:31), we all know that we should treat others the way we want to be treated. In the Gospel of Luke, just before Jesus offers “The Golden Rule,” he says: “give to …
Have you ever really, really wanted something, only to realize when you got it that it wasn’t all you expected or hoped? When I was about 11 years old, I begged my parents for a pair of white roller skates. I know I begged because … well, because I was quite precocious and demanding. Life and maturity have softened some …
Do you ever feel like life is chaotic? When things in my life are calm and peaceful, I only have to watch the news for a few minutes to be immersed in the chaos of our times. In the midst of the chaos it can feel like God is distant. It can feel like everything is bad, everything is hard, …
I have been giddy about God since the first moment I really understood God’s unconditional love. Not that I understand it completely, but once I got a glimpse of it, I was forever changed. I also found it easier to talk honestly about God from that moment on; I felt like I actually had something to say. It’s tempting to …
Jesus preaches release to the captives and this is good news because I’m a captive. I don’t like to think of myself that way. I much prefer thinking of myself as an independent person. I value my freedom. I’m proud that freedom and liberty are core values in my country’s founding documents. And yet, I have to admit, there are …