Every Sunday our closing prayer begins with the above words. Yet all of us struggle to find the place of safety and comfort that will make it possible for us to live without fear. Our world makes the point very well that there is much about which to be fearful....
(2) Comments | Posted May 4, 2012 | 2:37 PM
Early in my life I was told to be careful how I treated strangers because I might be entertaining angels without realizing it. A few days ago a small clan of angels arrived on my patio without my invitation or knowledge. They were discovered by me when I hurriedly went...
(60) Comments | Posted April 6, 2012 | 3:03 PM
Yes, indeed we do need to stand our ground. But the ground needs to be that which is committed to working for the alleviation of violence in this country. The notion that violence is a solution to our problems is indefensible and false. We have engaged in so much state-sanctioned...
(4) Comments | Posted March 7, 2012 | 2:11 PM
In that marvelous children's book, "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day," the main character Alexander knew that things were going down hill when he woke up with gum in his hair, didn't get a prize in his cereal box and wasn't given a window seat in...
(16) Comments | Posted February 19, 2012 | 8:10 AM
I have always been fascinated to hear the words tucked away in Mark's gospel regarding Jesus seeking a deserted place to pray. "In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place to pray." (Mark 1:35 NRSV) These words are sandwiched...
(123) Comments | Posted January 13, 2012 | 8:50 AM
Magic Mulatto, Mrs. YoMama, Touching A Tar Baby, Your Boy, Orbameo, Watermelons on the White House Lawn, cartoons with the President Obama's head and a chimpanzee's body, references to monkeys who escaped the zoo being related to the First Lady, and the list goes on with the racial slurs that...
(5) Comments | Posted December 28, 2011 | 9:57 AM
"Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life" declares the wise teacher in Proverbs (4:23 NCV). Of course, this is not a new idea because every major philosophy warns us about the power of our thoughts in shaping the pattern that our lives follow. As I have...
(15) Comments | Posted November 18, 2011 | 1:06 PM
The powerful story recorded in the Hebrew Bible about the results of Daniel's fearlessness and faith calls to us. This is a message that needs to be remembered as we navigate our way through today's maze of highly orchestrated efforts to keep us fearful and to have fear lead us...
(96) Comments | Posted October 25, 2011 | 2:23 PM
As I reflected upon Herman Cain's notion that we build electric fences at the border which would actually kill any who tried to cross them, I was quite saddened by the fact that a person would advocate such a remedy for our border problems. But, what saddened me even more...
(5) Comments | Posted October 5, 2011 | 4:58 PM
Several years ago, while waiting my turn to be taken to surgery, I was watching a morning talk show that featured members of the Ku Klux Klan and a very interesting awareness came to me. I began to understand their fear. I was quite afraid myself that morning. I was...
(131) Comments | Posted September 19, 2011 | 12:56 PM
"In Christ there is no difference between Jew and Greek, slave and free person, male and female. You are all the same in Christ Jesus." --Galatians 3:28 NCV
This is not a proclamation that was understood by the Arkansas hospital administrator who refused to allow my 12-year-old brother to...
(20) Comments | Posted May 24, 2012 | 7:01 AM