We remember the women with many children, young children, a child who has recently died, those who have experienced miscarriage, infertility or painful births, those who have broken relationships with children and women who have not experienced motherhood at all.

The sexual tension that pervades even the simplest campus ministry meeting is a pungent and thick as smoke. I can't help but think that these problems wouldn't be problems if we were OK with casual mingling.

As the old saying goes, the fish is the last to see or even feel the water because it is so pervasive. By analogy, what many within our society consider "normal" and appropriate, upon critical reflection, may be perceived as (re)enforcements of mainline Christian standards.

Spirituality and religion are enmeshed in a global struggle that involves new definitions, fresh "Mission Statements," and taking an unabashed closer look at things like truth, worship, who's welcome, what's defined as sin -- and the very nature of prayer itself.

Is our communal worship experience supposed to be nothing more than a fashion show with religious music playing, as we two-step down the sanctuary?

I wrote a story a while back about a family in our church back in Pueblo whose baby was due just after we left town. There was a good chance he'd need surgery in utero or immediately after being born.

For a sermon to be a public discourse, it takes a pastor and a congregation. In a community of faith, trust and openness, the conversation will develop organically between pastor and people.