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Mid-Advent, if you were to peep my church office, you’d find a disheveled scene. Fifteen hand soaps in an opened box on my desk, a manger full off socks waiting to go to Family Resources, and a displaced baby Jesus doll resting on an office chair. To…
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Every year, it seems there’s always an abundance of sugar consumed around the holiday season. Perhaps like your household, when I was growing up, there were cookies aplenty, plates of goodies shared from neighbors and friends. And none of it lasted v…
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Several years ago, someone asked me why I abbreviate Christmas as Xmas. Surprise prompted the question – surprise that someone who speaks as often as I do of trying to live a life in Christ would jettison His name from the very festival honoring His…
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In households throughout the country, children have been taking part in the annual ritual of early December. They’re writing Christmas lists, full of the toys or books, clothes or gadgets they hope to receive under their tree. While they are writing,…
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On this national football holiday, it’s hard to know which will get passed more often, the turkey or the pigskin. But somewhere along the course of the day, and the games, it’s almost certain that someone will invoke the time-honored maxim: no pain –…
My daughter Maggie is two and attends preschool at St. Paul three days a week. Picking her up one day recently, I asked her teachers what some of her favorite activities are at school. To my surprise, they said she is loving art: painting, coloring,…
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Just last weekend I went to a dinner event with my family and one of the hosts inquired of me, “You work at St. Paul?” and then added, “it’s such a lovely facility.” In the short time since I started serving here, I’ve heard this compliment often. I…
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I was sitting in the back of a bus with some friends recently as the driver wound his way through some narrow streets in downtown Tel Aviv. One of these friends told a story with a closing line that caused others of us to erupt with laughter. It’s ha…
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As Thanksgiving nears, we recall that gratitude is something we best cultivate and express every day, not just once a year. Of course, few people actually restrict their gratitude to the fourth Thursday in November. Birthdays, anniversaries of variou…
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Last Halloween, as we made our way through our neighborhood trick-or-treating, my kids head up the sidewalk to a modest little bungalow. A few older kids walked around us, gushing with excitement. I overheard them say, “Seriously!?! That guy just gav…
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They stroll across Lombard Street alone or in small packs, sometimes two, three, or five people moving slowly. Or they emerge from the park near the fountain, head toward the street, then without notice turn and retrace their steps back into the park…
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As the air grows crisper, I’m reminded that fall is my favorite season. The chilly nights, the jackets and sweatshirts, the rustling leaves – they are all delightful to me. Perhaps it’s that, despite its place two-thirds of the way through the calend…