You’ve Got A Lot To Live
Two of the characters in the Gospel Story of the Child Jesus being presented at the Temple are named Simeon and Anna. Both are old. Anna is eighty-four. Simeon’s age […]
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Closer Than Home
As you read the Gospels and try to understand what they are saying to your life, certain ironies are bound to enter your thoughts. For example, a surface reading of
God Gives Them A Family
“Will you still need me/will you still need me/when I’m sixty-four?” When a certain university chaplain first listened to this song on the “Sergeant Pepper” record, his ears perked up
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Dismount!
The Biblical concept of a “Chosen People of God” is a major theme running through the history of the United States. The Pilgrims were Bible-loving, Bible-centered, Bible-reading people. They took
Pleroma Of God
Pleroma (p-l-e-r-o-m-a) is not a familiar word to most of us, I am sure. “Pleroma.” It sounds like a name for a perfume or an after-shave lotion. It is neither
The Now Man
The itinerant preachers who followed the American Frontier were hard-working, hard-riding, straight-talking men. They preached the good news of the Gospel to people who were living in difficult, trying times.
Spellbound
We have been hearing much about rising unemployment rates, decline in sales of many products, decline of the stock market. Many businessmen are searching for a “recession-proof” product. And there
Broken Patterns
There is the wonderful story about a woman listening to her pastor preach a Sunday morning sermon about Simon Peter’s wife’s mother, ill with a fever. Not only was it
We Believe In You
If our encounter with God is honest and authentic it will make a difference in the way we live. It will make a difference in the kind of people we
Revenge Is Sour
Long before Jesus’ coming, ancient peoples had been using the skins of animals as liquid containers. In Palestine these containers usually were made from goat skin. The skin was stripped
Making A Comeback
According to an old rabbinical story… In a small East European country there lived a pious Jewish lad who wanted to become a Rabbi. He walked several miles each day,
We Must Pay Our Dues
As we prepare ourselves in this Season of Lent for the climax of Jesus’ life and ministry, we recall Jesus’ many efforts to prepare His disciples for His death. The
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The Last Enemy
An eight-year-old boy wrote an essay in school entitled, “What a Mom means to a kid”: A mother is a person who takes care of her kids and gets their
Someday
About fifteen years ago, in a “New York Times” editorial, the following proposal was made: “Amid all the ‘Weeks’ observed during the year in behalf of this, that, and the
Overtaken By Joy
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), the New England Yankee social critic who wrote “Walden,” one of the American classics, rebelled at the intrusion of government and social institutions on man’s life.
A Terrible Cavity
The world famous author/psychiatrist, Dr. Paul Tournier, has called loneliness “the most devastating malady of the age.” Another eminent physician has said of loneliness, “There is no human condition so
There Must Be Some Mistake
There is a daily syndicated newspaper cartoon strip called “The Small Society” in which the author seems to be telling us that our Society is coming apart at the seams.
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What Are We Looking For?
What are we looking for? That is the question! Today’s Gospel episode begins on the morning of the first Easter Sunday. Mary Magdalene comes to Jesus’ tomb. What is she
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Be Careful What You Swallow
Several years ago, Theodor Seuss Geisel, best known as the author of the “Dr. Seuss” children’s books, was invited to give the commencement address at a college in Illinois. He
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High Expectations
“Whistle Down the Wind” is a motion picture of a few years ago. In the story a group of children find a tramp in a barn. Through a combination of
