The great preacher and writer Harry Emerson Fosdick once told about visiting with a teenage girl who had contracted polio. As Fosdick and this young woman spoke, she shared another conversation she had had earlier with a friend. The friend made the statement, “Affliction does so color life.” The young woman responded, “I agree. But […]
Today, On this “Giving Tuesday,” I invite you to please remember Dial Hope. There is a link on our Daily Email and on our website, www.dialhope.org Also, let me say thank you to those of you who regularly support Dial Hope financially. We could not offer this ministry without you! Father Barry Foster, a priest in […]
Yesterday was the first Sunday in Advent. As an aspect of worship, we prepared our sanctuary. We put up added greens. We hung Chrismons. We brought in the manger. And we reflected on the symbolism of each item. I know some of you may have started to prepare in your own homes as well. Usually, […]
A number of years ago, the youth pastor of a church where I was serving led much of our worship one Sunday. He reminded us that if we keep our eyes open, we can see transformation happening all around us. His first example was taking a student surfing for the first time. He could immediately […]
In the Gospel of John, Jesus said, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. This is my […]
Some time ago, I heard the Benedictine monk, David Steindl-Rast talking about the word “spirituality,” a word that has become quite popular even outside of traditional religious circles. It is, however, a word that belongs to the Christian tradition. It comes from the Latin word “spiritus” which means, “life,” “breath,” “aliveness.” Steindl-Rast said that spirituality […]
In his first letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul writes: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Very rarely in scripture does Paul, or anyone else for that matter, say this clearly: This is God’s will for you… But […]
In recent years, I’ve had a hard time reading or listening to the news. I used to listen to it often on my drive to church and sometimes on my drive home. What I noticed is that I would inevitably arrive with a heightened sense of anxiety. Do you ever feel that after you turn […]
There is a story about a woman at the airport who was waiting to catch her flight. She bought herself a bag of cookies, settled in a chair in the airport lounge, and began to read her book. Suddenly she noticed the man beside her helping himself to her cookies. Not wanting to make a […]
In her book, “When Things Fall Apart,” Pema Chodron tells a powerful story. She wrote: “I have a friend dying of AIDS. Before I was leaving for a trip, we were talking. He said, ‘I didn’t want this, and I have this, and I was terrified of this. But it turns out that this illness […]
