It is not possible to understand light without darkness. It is difficult to experience faith without having a brush with fear. There is no left without a right or up without down. Good and evil have a similar relationship, but they need an actor and a target to be realized.

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The Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard (1814 -1855), is famous for describing faith as a “leap.” Philosopher-speak is always specialized and usually abstract. Somewhere along the way a few people added the word “blind” to “leap.” This is the opposite of what Kierkegaard was saying.

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The practice of writing happened so long ago that we don’t normally think of it as having been invented. As time has passed the material that we have used to write has meant more and more people have the capacity to write things down and more people have the opportunity to read those things.

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The more I read and investigate the Psalms, the more I am impressed with the powerful structure of the hymnbook of the Bible. The first Psalm lays the foundation of what we will experience in the other 149. The second praises the reign of the king, which is quoted in Acts in the New Testamen…

I wrote a couple of weeks ago some thoughts about Black History Month. I want to share another reason I need Black History Month. Song. This is not about the style of music, but rather the lyrics. It is worth listening to spiritual songs, songs from the Civil Rights movement (and the decades…

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Some people will do anything for affirmation and in so doing bring their whole profession down to the basest level of their consumers. It might be shocking clothing, shocking performances, or shocking speeches. It gets air time and the attention of those who approve and those who do not. The…

My personal journey through racism has been punctuated by a handful of events that moved me toward the still imperfect place I am now. I suppose I was like a lot of children in my generation in the mid-south. It was still illegal for Blacks and whites to drink out of the same water fountain …

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I remember the first time I shook hands with our neighbor in Italy. While we were moving in, she greeted us with some cooked food and fresh produce. She wasn’t very old, but her hands let me know right away that she had worked the ground herself to provide what she gave us. Her husband was t…

I was recently at a guest services counter on a cruise ship. I was helping my in-laws sort out an activity for the next day. They were gracious enough to pay partial fare for 20 of us to be together for a few days. The line was not long, but the complaining was in full voice before my line-m…

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Words come and go in their popularity. There will always be a new (old) word recycled to make consumers feel special. It is not always bad. Sometimes it is worth paying a premium for someone else to sift through the dust and fleas so that all we need do is show up or buy a subscription. As w…

On the darkest days of the year, Jews and Christians celebrate light. Jews celebrate Hannukah, which usually occurs in December (and rarely as early as Thanksgiving) and can be verified in I Maccabees. For a long time Christians have celebrated Christmas as the date Jesus was born, even thou…

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It is always a dangerous thing to think that two very different words mean the same thing. There is the triumvirate of tolerance, acceptance, and affirmation that many have been convinced are the same and promote the idea. This is true across the political and religious spectrum. It is the t…

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Church Calendar

There will always be tension between legality and morality. I was in a class for future missionaries several years ago in which we discussed law. The professor suggested to all of us that laws are nothing more than levers that are used to ensure those with wealth and political power can main…

It is very strange watching the World Cup with a fire in the wood stove. I have mixed feelings about it this cycle because of the juxtaposition of massive and obscene wealth next to all those unseen immigrant workers (of which about 450 are reported to have died), who constructed some of the…

For Christians this Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent. It is the beginning of the Christian calendar. Two things always come to my mind this time of year. First is the likely pagan background of the day on which Western Christianity celebrates Jesus’ birth. Second is what does it mean to …

No one gets to choose their heritage. No one gets to choose the nation or tribe into which they are born. No one gets to choose the influences that form the way we first learn to view the world. No one gets to choose their history.

I have never been all that good at sports, but it has never stopped me from participating once I found my level of intensity and competition. I was once on a basketball team in England that was competitive at the lowest level of the lowest division.

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Whoever said to avoid talking about religion and politics made a mistake. I would suggest that it may be more important to discuss those things with the people we find most difficult to talk to. Didn’t say it would be fun. They are the most important things we can discuss.

Each season has its own beauty, but it is this season that reminds me most that seasons exist. It is the season that I most notice those huge life-giving plants we call trees. It is this season, just before they go to sleep, that they refuse to be ignored. When the low angle of the sun hits …

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Doris was just past 80 years old and had not been home to Germany for nearly 15 years. She had sisters, a brother, and nieces and nephews that she wanted to see again. She was tired and not sure she was up to the trip. I encouraged her to do it. It was, at that time in her life the most impo…

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Simple is not synonymous with easy. In the realm of spirituality, they can be nearly opposites.

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It is impossible for me to imagine the world that my great-great-grandmother lived in. People were in all kinds of situations that were common then but unimaginable for me now. OK, there still are. At least we have more social awareness, compassion, legal recourse, and social safety nets to …

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Church Calendar

Most of us are familiar with the story of Job in the Bible. It still stands as the best theodicy ever written. It still causes us to question and ponder the suffering in the world. It reminds us that there are things in the world, and beyond, that we cannot fathom — much less understand. Job…

Grief Support Groups

Questions in Genesis are questions that we all have. A couple of years ago, I wrote briefly about a few of them. Over most of the next few months, I hope to share some thoughts about some of them in this space. From the first question in Genesis, the serpent’s, “Did God really say ...?” to t…

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Some of the consequences of the miracles of Jesus in the New Testament must have been their economic and social impact. Consider the value of a great catch of fish, the ability to work after being healed of a withered hand or being lame, or reentering society after being cleansed of leprosy.

All talk is not a good thing. What is worse is talking in one direction while acting in another. It is deceptive and manipulative. It is one thing to do it to gain an advantage in sports — as in the attempt to draw a defensive team offside to gain a free first down. It is another matter enti…

Grief Support Groups

There are times when two principles I hold conflict with each other. It happens every time someone whom I know has made a poor decision and refuses to make changes asks for help. On the one side I believe that people should be allowed to experience the consequences of their actions. On the o…

Grief Support Groups

There are two things that lead us to questionable decisions in life. The first is doing what we want and finding a way to justify it. One of the most egregious might be, “God wants me to be happy, therefore it is OK for me to ... because it makes me happy.” The second is doing something diff…

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There are some events in life that are unavoidable. Try as we might, we cannot hide. We may get away with it for a little while, but not facing difficult situations catches up with us eventually. Even if we avoid them forever, they will leave their mark on us. It is not good for us to avoid …

In 1961, John F. Kennedy misattributed a famous quote at the conclusion of a speech before the Canadian Parliament. It is one of those that is difficult to track down. Someone may know where it came from, but I can’t find it anywhere. Here is what Kennedy said, “At the conference table and i…

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