In 1936, with war clouds gathering in Europe, author E.B. White wrote the following for The New Yorker: “Shopping in Woolworth’s, in the turbulent days, we saw a little boy put his hand inquiringly on a ten-cent Christ child, part…
Worldliness and wistfulness on the way to Bethlehem 2021
This Advent season, I determined to follow the lead of the BVM, the Blessed Virgin Mary, in “pondering” the Bethlehem story in my heart. So I went back to Luke’s Gospel in the King James Version where I first heard…
Christ came to make us truly human: Social ethics and the image of Christ
This is the last in a three-part Advent series. Dietrich Bonhoeffer always brings me up short when he emphasizes the indicative rather than imperative voice in Paul’s thought and in Christian ethics more broadly. For example, in terms of Bonhoeffer’s…
Christmas joy must be tempered by the cries of our neighbors
Christmas is, for many or most Christians, the most joyous Christian celebration. And it certainly should be a great reason of joy; in fact, according to the Christian tradition, we are celebrating the birth of God’s Son on earth, for…
Searching for the Christ Child? No directions needed
I come from generations of farmers, machinists, carpenters and clothing makers, all gifted with finely honed spatial skills. They are adept at deciphering maps, finding their way home without directions and creating clothing without patterns. My loved ones can conceptualize…
If we are to accept Advent’s invitation, we must talk about money
There’s a joke we tell in my line of work: “Why does the church spend so much time talking about what goes on in the bedroom? Because we’re too scared to talk about what goes on in the boardroom.” Perhaps…
Merry Christmas from Paul the apostle in prison
Leave it the Apostle Paul to make a prison cell sound like a spiritual oasis. Throughout much of the New Testament, he’s trapped, you know, imprisoned by the Roman Empire for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Time and again,…
Joseph, did you know? A reflection on fatherhood during Advent
Three months ago, I became a father to a baby girl — my firstborn. Daily, I am amazed how something so small can draw out of me so much love. I am not underselling it to say that in such…
Christ came to make us truly human: Remade in the image of Christ
This is the second in a three-week Advent series. In six places in the New Testament, five of them in the (probable) writings of Paul, the image of God is reinterpreted in light of Jesus Christ. The imago dei becomes…