Another year, another Advent season. God is with us and it is spectacular. Or, maybe it isn’t anymore. Perhaps, we are beginning to feel that God has come and gone due to a political season that has taken a toll…
‘Do you see this woman?’ A model for Christian engagement
Luke 7 tells the story of Jesus being invited for dinner at Simon the Pharisee’s house. During the visit, we’re told that “a woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s…
If I was God, Christmas would be different
We had to take our baby to the hospital this past week. He was having trouble breathing in the middle of the night so we took him to the emergency room at 3 a.m. The doctors at the local hospital…
A Christmas list for Donald Trump
President-Elect Trump, Congratulations on wining this year’s presidential election. As Christians around the country prepare to celebrate Christmas, you are also building your inner circle of advisors who will set policy for our nation in the coming year. As your…
What is a ‘Recombobulation Area’?
I’ve seen a lot of unusual things, people and events in airports. It takes something special to get a reaction from me. Recently, I saw something that stopped me in my tracks. In fact, I took a photo of the…
Discerning a sign from God
I must admit being a little leery of persons who see signs of divine intervention at every turn. Whether it be an open parking space, a favorite team’s victory, or finding the last toy on the shelf (the perfect gift…
My Christmas prayer
We were standing at the airport in Havana, Cuba, preparing to depart for our return home when our translator, Vladimir, turned to me and asked, “What is a ‘grinch’?” His look of confusion was understandable given he could find no…
An Advent prayer
O God of Advent, You are with us, Emmanuel, near as breath, present as Spirit, guiding us as Lord. You hear our sighs and groans and speak their language. When we are in chaos, you make sense of our wildest…
‘Be subject,’ but be careful
¨Let every person be subject to the governing authorities for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist…
Life, love and Elmer’s glue
I’ll confess, I didn’t hear the Christmas tree come crashing down in the middle of the night. I vaguely remember my husband asking me if I heard dishes shattering. Just another bizarre dream, I thought. No thief in the night…
In America today, who gets to use possessive pronouns?
The crowds trudged through the rain from the main square in order to block the street in front of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department headquarters. “Whose streets? Our streets!” they shouted, in defiance of the long history of Charlotte. Here, streets and…
Finding a place to ask the tough questions
Early in my pastoral work I found myself in the middle of an intense season of transformation and conflict at my church. I wasn’t prepared for the dynamics I faced then; really, nobody at church knew quite what to do…