Any Questions?
The poet and playwright Archibald MacLeish was once invited to lead Morning Prayer at Harvard’s Memorial Church. At first, he declined, explaining that his religious skepticism made him an unlikely […]
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Love Has the Last Word
A fable tells of a little fish swimming near the surface of the ocean. One day he glanced down into the dark depths below and became frightened. “What if I
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Arithmetic of the Gospel
A man once complained to his pastor that the church was always asking for something. “Every Sunday,” he said, “it’s give, give, give.” The pastor smiled and replied, “Thank you.
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The Bread That Gives Life
A pastor once visited an elderly woman who was nearing the end of her life. She told him that when the time came, she wanted to be buried with a
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Five Hundred Ways
Certain words are repeated so frequently that they lose their capacity to evoke expectation or meaning. Forgiveness is one of them. Ernest Hemingway’s short story The Capital of the World
The Next Step
There are moments in history—and in every life—when everything familiar gives way at once. What once seemed certain no longer is. What lies ahead is not yet clear. In those
Connecting the Dots
There’s a gap most of us learn to live with We know what we believe. We have known it for years. We can say it clearly. We can explain it
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Love in Action
Scott Peck, the late psychiatrist and best-selling author of The Road Less Traveled, once wrote that love is “an act of will—both an intention and an action.” It is a
What Are You Holding?
There are moments in history—and in our own lives—when the ground seems to shift beneath our feet. What once felt settled no longer holds. What once seemed clear begins to
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Driven or Led?
More than fifteen centuries ago, a man named Augustine—who would later become one of the great teachers of the Christian faith—looked back on his life and described it with a
Stay With Us
Many people today move through the world with a kind of constant distraction. A phone in the hand, earbuds in the ears, eyes drawn again and again to the small
When Faith Becomes Real
Most of us know the name Helen Keller. What is sometimes forgotten is the moment when her world first opened. As a small child, Helen Keller lost both her sight
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The Morning the Stone Was Gone
Easter begins quietly. In today’s Gospel lesson, John tells us that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb while it was still dark. The city had barely begun to stir. No
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Don’t Look Away
Recently, a documentary told the story of several photographs taken secretly inside the Warsaw Ghetto during the Second World War. The photographer was not a journalist but a young Polish
The Loneliness of the King
Henri Nouwen, the spiritual writer, once observed that one of our greatest temptations is to turn away from our own suffering—and in doing so, to miss the chance to recognize
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The Timing of Love
In today’s Gospel lesson, John tells the story of the raising of Lazarus. It is often remembered as a dramatic miracle story, a preview of Easter. But if we listen
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When Sight Disrupts
In today’s Gospel lesson, a man who had been blind from birth is given sight. It is a remarkable event, and everyone around him wants to make sense of it.
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Come and See
Thirst has a way of getting our attention. Urgency replaces perspective and nothing else matters. Scripture understands that kind of urgency. In Exodus, the people of Israel are thirsty in
After the Vision
There are moments in life when everything seems to fall into place—when what has been confusing suddenly becomes clear, when what has felt hidden is briefly revealed. We recognize those
No Half Measures
Lent does not begin with denial. It begins with choice. Before Jesus teaches, before he heals, before he gathers disciples or confronts authorities, he is led into the wilderness. Not
