Will we let such resolutions go the way of so many of our new-calendar-year's resolutions? Or will we take seriously the liturgical cycle that provides us with the Gospel model for making and sticking with what we set out to do as recommitted Christians in our age?

On Thanksgiving, we all took a deep breath and gave thanks for family, friends and the simple pleasures of life. How do we make it last? Would it not be great if the spirit of Thanksgiving endured?

Jesus expressed a wide range of emotions with his followers, but love was the foundation of them all. It was easy and honest and clear. It was fervent without shame or restraint.

When our lives are based in fear, we cannot think and live in transformational ways; we are doomed to perpetuate the status quo. Rather than live a life of fear, Lincoln embodied an open-hearted, inclusive, love-based way of life that truly revolutionized this country.

Remember wanting to make it perfect, so you'd make a good impression, especially on your mother-in-law? I'll never forget mine. It should have been a disaster.

Edwin lives life at its very best despite all the reasons he has to despair. He is an inspiration.

What I hope for is that, even in times when we disagree with one another so deeply on issues of the Christian faith, we can do so always knowing, believing and living the challenge that it is to be the Body of Christ. This is my prayer and I'm sticking to it.

As service became a defining aspect of growing up in America, the infrastructure moved from the church to the schools and became so secularized that conversations around faith were discouraged -- even taboo.

I think that sometimes we can over-think giving. It should be as natural as breathing. You have. You give. You receive. You share.

Accepting gratitude, the thanks of someone else, even a stranger, lights us up -- it makes us feel good. It helps us, even for a second, to see the light and love that is within us. When we give thanks, we open up spiritually.

Marrying outside one’s religion is less of a cultural taboo today than in generations past, but the question of how couples can best integrate their...

Like nature models, political, social and moral models originate in human experience, and, as experience accumulates, they evolve. Typically, the models we've inherited from the past were formulated over centuries, if not millennia.

I dreamed of becoming an All-American hero. I just didn't know how I was going to get there. I had no real job skills, and hadn't done well enough in school to earn a college scholarship. Maybe that was why a commercial I saw about the Army intrigued me.

As this dramatic season of political contests culminates in today's election, there are those who will predicate their privilege by choosing to abstain from voting. I am unimpressed.

There are too many people in our communities who find themselves in the middle of a life journey that does not seem to lead them to places of peace and comfort. One of those persons was a former neighbor of mine who took her life a few weeks ago.

Listening to news reports Tuesday about the widespread destruction from Hurricane Sandy, Scott Holmquist first reacted with shock at the disaster that...

In all things. Could God be at work even in a senseless tragedy like this? Oh, Lord, it just hurts so bad right now. But I believe you. I trust you. Please take this act of evil and use it for good.

I am learning so much from people on Twitter. Here's a conversation that beautifully captures the very definition of the Habit of Compassion.

In a disaster aftermath, whether caused by hurricane or earthquake or tsunami, the right impulse is to rush in with appropriate relief. But for people of faith, too often this same "rush in" model is applied to making excuses for God.