A great man once said that "The Greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions." We so often deceive ourselves not because we want to be deceived but because we stop short of learning all we can to form an opinion that is full and well informed. Our...
"It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones, after all." So says the author of Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder. And I love this old Shaker Hymn: "Tis a gift to be simple, tis a gift to be free. Tis a...
What provokes you? Politics? Religion? Race? Inequity? Violence? Chaos (OK, this one is a personal provocation!)? No matter what might provoke you to action, if you allow the provocation to be your primary motivation, you are sure to always be provoked. You see, provocation is a "result", not a...
It seems we've been focusing on being awake this week and today is no exception. In fact, I want to really dive deep today in the central wisdom of the Church that teaches you and me to "BE" awake to what is most important in life. And that's because it...
Folks, there's just one use for a cross. No ambiguity. No "shades of meaning." The only use for a cross is to kill someone. Sorry for the stark language right off the bat, but there's just no way to dress this up to make it more palatable. Crucifixion means...
Keith Green, an amazingly talented musician and singer from the 1970's, wrote this: Like a foolish dreamer, trying to build a highway to the sky All my hopes would come tumbling down, and I never knew just why Until today, when you pulled away the clouds that hung like curtains on my...
What is it about magic that we humans love? I mean we can't look into any era of history and not see "magicians," slight of hand tricks, illusions, and even attempts at mimicking miracles. We are fascinated by magic. And that's not, necessarily, a bad thing. After all, it's good...
There's something about intimacy that scares us to death AND becomes a central hunger for our lives. We are terrified of loneliness AND intimacy! From sociological studies showing modern society becoming more and more lonely, to small groups of Baby Boomers forming support groups to talk about death and dying,...
"Did you hear..." That's the beginning of a moment that rarely turns out good! And that's because this is usually the beginning of a conversation that is more gossip than true. But we do love to gossip, don't we? Unfortunately, there are real consequences to spreading stories, especially when...
There was a day when I relished a good theological argument. Jousting with this or that "opponent" over this or that doctrine was as much fun as it was challenging. My favorite fights were over questions about the Trinity or predestination or even the very question about what was...
