3
“I can’t be in a relationship with someone who doesn’t hold my views.” I’m paraphrasing a quote from a Christian friend with what many would consider progressive and inclusive positions on theological questions and various social issues relevant to o…
6
If I were to rank my weekly chores in the order of how much joy it brings, grocery shopping would generally be near the bottom. But this has changed since I started going to the Aldi store a few blocks from church. I like the fact that they have good…
2
When the prophet Jeremiah tried to get the people of Israel to reckon with their shallowness, they refused. When he told them of their arrogance, they put cotton in their ears. When he warned them of a terrible fate from an invading nation if they di…
3
In early November of last year, there was a major rescue operation underway in a remote area of the Scottish Highlands. No, there were no people in grave danger. But there was a sheep. All by herself. Stranded along a shoreline with no way out. As…
1
Holidays are rarely just about a day. They’re not even really about a season. Holidays are about who we are and what we value. They bring those things into focus for a time so that we get our bearings again for all times. We know this about Christma…
2
What is the point of having a weather app on my phone? I asked myself this last week as I watched round, wet snowflakes come tumbling down at an angle from my office window. No one had warned me snow was coming. Least of all my weather app. I might a…
1
Nearly 20 years ago, my dad’s older brother, my Uncle Dillon, told me a story when we were together for Christmas that’s never left my mind. It was the 1960s and Uncle Dillon, a Catholic, had just started seeing a Lutheran girl from school. They eac…
2
I know I’m not alone in saying this: It can be really difficult to choose a Christmas present for someone else, unless that person is a child, of course, in which case anything spelled T-O-Y has pretty good odds of being perfect. Some of us lose slee…
7
Ten years ago, only a small percentage of people had heard the word “Advent,” and even fewer had used an Advent calendar. Most of these early calendars helped count down the days to Christmas and told the story of Jesus. Every day a little door opene…
7
Last week, we had an electrician working at our house. More specifically, we’d called to have someone look at the outlet on the outside of our house. All of our outdoor Christmas lights were plugged into this particular outlet and then one evening, f…
3
Editors who are good at titling articles and books look for attention-grabbing headlines. They want to persuade readers to read on. A favorite book title on my bookshelf comes from poet and friend Luci Shaw: The Crime of Living Cautiously. You don’t…
1
Today, or sometime this week, many of us will pause to observe Thanksgiving. We will reflect on the blessings we can count in our lives. We will take a break from the humdrum patterns of daily life and from the persistent intrusions of bad news into…