I spent much of my childhood skeptical about Easter. I of course enjoyed the fanfare of egg hunts, chocolate bunnies, fancy clothes, and a church service crowded with Easter lilies, but I struggled with some of the elements that other kids seemed to so comfortably accept: adults dressed in oversized rabbit costumes, baby chicks and bunnies emerging from eggs, an Easter bunny tale that seemed to mimic Santa Claus.
Read MoreIn a warehouse in Valencia, California, long rolls of nondescript canvas are tied with string and piled on top of one another, some with numbered tags and many without. The dusty canvas rolls are 10, 20, and 30 feet long, taking up precious space in an expensive Santa Clarita neighborhood. But if you untie the string, a magical world emerges: a snowy suburban home from National Velvet, a sunlit glass gazebo from The Sound of Music, a craggy Mount Rushmore scene from North by Northwest.
Read MoreAs we study together the letters to the seven churches in Revelation, how readily are you able to imagine yourself cheering in the massive stadium in Smyrna or wandering through the majestic library in Pergamum? What if you could hold in your palm the coins they traded in the marketplaces some 2,000 years ago?
Read MoreIn Eugene Peterson's book Reversed Thunder, he bemoans the careful language we sometimes use when we talk about God. We are wary of saying more than logic can verify, or misspeaking and exposing ourselves as nonsensical. The pressure is real when we believe that every word we choose will somewhere reveal a hidden truth about our salvation, and we take great care to avoid the mistakes we ourselves have critiqued and even poked fun at.
Read MoreThe third-century Roman Emperor Claudius II was an aggressive military leader who stepped into his role at a time when the Roman Empire was under attack both within and outside its borders. Claudius believed that single men made the best soldiers, undistracted by emotional attachments to wives or children, and he also found the Christian concept of marriage distasteful and unnecessary. So he outlawed marriage in the Roman Empire.
Read MoreOnly one woman sat on the speakers' platform when the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963. Dorothy Height had helped to organize the rally in Washington DC's National Mall and had already made a name for herself as president of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) and a forerunner of the civil rights movement.
Read MoreHong Kong resident Lai Chi-wai is a four-time winner of the Asian Rock Climbing Championships and once was ranked eighth in the world for his rock-climbing prowess. In 2011, Lai was in a major car accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down, but the 37-year-old has not let paraplegia diminish his dreams.
Read MoreFeeling frustrated? Overwhelmed? Exhausted? Here's one way to get those 2020/2021 emotions out: Call 1-561-567-8431, scream for as loud and long as you like, and then hang up. As the website boasts, don't worry. No one is actually listening when you call, although your voice will be recorded and added to what has become an international montage of collective frustration. To listen to screams from around the world, including your own, go to the website justscream.baby.
Read More"My father was a St. Bernard, my mother was a collie, but I am a Presbyterian," begins Mark Twain's 1903 short story "A Dog's Tale." The story is a heart-wrenching commentary on the ills of short-sighted people who mistreat others, told through the voice of a sweet, trusting dog who has an affinity for the word "Presbyterian": "This is what my mother told me, I do not know these nice distinctions myself. To me they are only fine large words meaning nothing. My mother had a fondness for such; she liked to say them, and see other dogs look surprised and envious, as wondering how she got so much education."
Read MoreKelly was an American Quaker professor who dedicated his life to listening for God's call through the angst and anxiety of two world wars. When World War I broke out, Kelly traveled to England with the YMCA to work with German prisoners of war. He was eventually fired from that position when his ardent pacifism angered military officials, and he returned to the United States to complete his PhD.
Read Morejoin me in pondering again the irony of the words I shared this past Sunday from Dr. Robert P. Kerr in The People's History of Presbyterianism:
Books are to be read, not to lie on dusty shelves. But this is a busy age, and most persons will not take time to read extensive treatises. The people call for short sermons, short prayers, and short books. Nor is this demand without reason; for life itself is short, and there is much to do.
Read MoreThe cover of this week's Time Magazine is a bold red X through the year "2020," followed by the subtitle "The Worst Year Ever." The cover illustration cues to an essay titled "Our Awful Year: 2020 Tested Us Beyond Measure. Where Do We Go From Here?" Inside the essay, you will find pull-out quotes like, "This is the story of a year you'll never want to revisit," and, "Our most debilitating threat this year was a sense of helplessness."
Read MoreThe Yale Book of Quotations was first published in 2006 as a scholarly compilation of quotations focusing primarily on modern and American quotations. With an alphabetical list of more than 12,000 quotes, the book reflects its editors' exhaustive search for accurate original sources as well as misattributions (the phrase "Go West, young man" indeed was from Horace Greeley, for example, not John Soule as Bartlett's and The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations have erroneously reported).
Read MoreRather than steeping in the disappointment of a lonely Thanksgiving without family, Missy Buchanan wanted to come up with something silly and unexpected. So she and her husband shipped life-sized cardboard cutouts of themselves to their adult children and grandkids, and the family is still chuckling over the surprise.
Read MoreHannah longed for a baby. She had a loving husband and a comfortable lifestyle, but her desire went unanswered day after day, year after year. Compounding her grief was a rival wife, Peninnah, who bore children easily and taunted Hannah cruelly. Every time Hannah went to worship in God's house, Peninnah would be there jeering and reminding Hannah that God had not given her children.
Read MoreWhen life is quickly shifting beneath our feet, your greatest calling is to focus your eyes on the Lord -- watching for His brilliance in the natural beauty of the world around you and listening for His voice as He simply speaks your name. He knows your heart, He knows your fears, and He knows what brings you calm. As we anticipate a Thanksgiving that likely is not what we had planned, hear these words from The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence:
Read MoreIt can be frustrating when an anticipated purchase arrives and is not what we need or hoped for. And how devastating it is when the cornerstone we assumed was truth slides beneath us, leaving our faith shaken and our hopes shattered. Do you know anyone who is building their faith on secular promises, trusting in a culture that may or may not deliver what they desire?
Read MoreHow are you moving through the uncertainty of Election Day, of this week? Are you able to embrace the newness of a Bach toccata, or are you craving the comforting routine of a bedtime pattern that does not deviate? Be mindful of your lens this week, careful to ensure that, as L'Engle writes, "the edge has not been taken off the glory of God's creation."
Read MoreIn honor of Reformation Day 2020, the Presbyterian Historical Society is reminding churches of "The Plague Song" by Ulrich Zwingli, a priest in Zurich, Switzerland, who was closely associated with the Reformation alongside Luther and John Calvin. Early in his ministry at Groosmunster Church, Zwingli contracted the bubonic plague, which killed nearly half the residents of Zwingli's hometown, Zurich. Zwingli battled the plague in 1519 and 1520, ultimately recovering fully and living another 10 years.
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