One of my favorite movies as a kid was the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It’s an old movie, but if you remember it, it is about his quest is to find the Holy Grail, the original chalice used by Christ at the Last Supper. Along the way, Indy finds himself in these […]
Some time ago, I listened to an interview with Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen. She spoke about a twenty-four-year-old young man who had to have one of his legs amputated to stop the spread of bone cancer. He had become angry and bitter. Eventually, Dr. Ramen was able to help him come to grips with his […]
My friend Robert McCrary used to have a prayer attached to a bulletin board in his office titled “Hands.” The prayer itself speaks of transformation and grace. It moves from a preoccupation with the self to a love of others. The author is unknown, and today, we will make it our message and our prayer. […]
The year that I taught High School in Jamaica, I’ll never forget the first PTA meeting I attended. The vice-principal gave a speech where she encouraged the parents to teach their children how to use flush toilets because many of the new students had never seen one. She also encouraged the parents – even though […]
One year our choir director led our Sunday school class in a study of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. He had us do a pretty interesting exercise. He asked us to read the first three chapters and list all the things God has done for us in Christ. It really is amazing. For three chapters, […]
There is a passage in Steve Covey’s book, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” that hit home for me. Covey wrote, “I value my children. I love them, I want to help them. I value my role as their father. But I don’t always see those values. I get caught up in the ‘thick […]
Keith Miller tells a wonderful story about a busy executive in an eastern city who was rushing to catch a commuter train one morning. The executive had an important meeting at the office, and he needed to make this train in order to get there on time. Just as he was about to board the […]
Christian author and educator, Lawrence O. Richards makes an interesting connection between sponge diving, which is a major business in his area of the country, and the spiritual life. Divers are attached to an oxygen line in a boat, then they dive deep into the water to search for sponges. The only thing that keeps […]
In a recent theological journal, Austin Seminary professor David White tells the story of Le Chambon, a little village in southern France. “One day in 1942, during World War II, two buses of French police pulled into this village to round up Jews who were given refuge there. The police captain gathered everyone into the […]
I remember years ago, I had a friend who said he did not like going to church because, for him, worship was kind of boring… He said, “You know you just sit there, and the music is often reflective and quiet.” On the other side of this, Annie Dillard has this great quote. She wrote: […]
