There are certain questions in life that are so important they cannot be answered for us. A parent may guide us. A teacher may influence us. Friends may offer advice. […]
Would You Recognize a Stradivarius? Read More »
There are moments when another person changes the way we see the world. Years ago, a young graduate student spent several months living with a Navajo family while conducting research
Be a Window of Hope Read More »
It wasn’t the man they were shooting at. It was the coat. The soldiers had entered Warsaw only days after the Germans began their retreat. The war was ending. After
There are moments when the world simply feels too large. Not geographically large, but morally and emotionally large. We awaken each morning intending to care, and before the day has
Who’s Your Devonte? Read More »
There are some lessons life insists on teaching. It teaches them slowly. Often quietly. Sometimes painfully. We rarely recognize those lessons while they are unfolding. A conversation with a parent.
What We Learn to Value Read More »
There are few things more satisfying than certainty. We like believing we know what happened. We like believing we know who is right and who is wrong. We like problems
Before the Harvest Read More »
We’ve all been there. You call your child to dinner from another room. Silence. “Did you hear what I said?” “Yes.” “Then why didn’t you come?” “I wasn’t listening.” Because
Difficult to Ignore Read More »
John Wooden, the Hall of Fame UCLA basketball coach who led his teams to ten national championships in twelve seasons, began each season with a lesson that surprised many of
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
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
Love Has the Last Word Read More »
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.
Arithmetic of the Gospel Read More »
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
The Bread That Gives Life Read More »
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
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
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
Connecting the Dots Read More »
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
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
What Are You Holding? Read More »
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
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
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
When Faith Becomes Real Read More »
A thoughtful sermon preview delivered to your inbox every Sunday morning.
No clutter. No spam. Just the sermon.
