Christ is born! What a busy time of year! As I was preparing for liturgy this morning, I was contemplating my schedule and caught myself becoming distracted from the time of prayer that the liturgy calls me to embrace. I had to exercise my will to banish this distraction so...
Christ is Born! “Where did she go?” As a father, that question sent chills up my spine! Our youngest had wandered off and I couldn’t see her. It was a crowded area and all my police training had me imagining the worst. Not knowing where she was was a terror...
Tonight’s the night! And my girls are absolutely thrilled to go to bed after Liturgy this evening! Why? Not because it’s bedtime, but because after Liturgy in the morning, we’re going to open presents and eat sweets and generally celebrate! It really is the most wonderful time of the...
Thank you to all who have written, emailed, and given at this time of year! We are so very grateful to you and we pray your celebration of the Feast will bring you closer to becoming by grace what Christ is by nature. This is the salvation of the...
"I don't believe in God." "OK," I told him. "Tell me about this god you don't believe in." This young man began describing Zeus. You know, a god who is vindictive and angry; who punishes the mortals with the lightning bolts of pain and sorrow. This god tries to...
"You are so blessed!" Those were the words said to the lady who had just gotten a big raise at work! And, it was true. But there is a danger here. In many cultures and even religions, the idea that to be rich is to be favored by God is...
"Well, to be fair..." I cringed when I heard these words because I knew what followed was an attempt by the speaker to shut down the discussion. After all, everyone wants "to be fair," don't we? Of course, we want to be "fair." It seems to be an ingrained and...
It seems we Southerners have an "old saying" for everything. When I was in Boston for seminary, a young man from another part of the country asked me "Barnabas, is there a book I can buy with all these Southern sayings in them?" I laughed and told him "No,...
I remember as a boy dreading recess at school. You see, I was a bit of a bookworm and not very athletic, and so when it came to being picked for teams, I was usually the kid who got picked last. Ugh! I hated that. It was embarrassing and...
Sometimes you have to wonder why we so easily miss it. You know, the obvious stuff that, once we see it, we wonder how we missed it in the first place! My girls like those puzzles where you are supposed to find the hidden pictures in a larger picture,...
