Cancer has reduced my father’s robust frame to skin-covered bones. His bombastic voice has deflated to a chirping whisper. But his 84-year-old blue eyes still sparkled when he abruptly made a comment that, to fully appreciate, requires decades of context….
Ben Sasse’s courage, grace and metastasized Calvinism
Two tensions can be true at the same time. We can admire a person’s courage and grace without blindly accepting their well-intentioned but dangerous beliefs. Many Christians recently shared on social media a segment of Scott Pelley’s 60 Minutes interview…
Confessions of a cancer caregiver
After a lifetime of trying to follow Jesus, the enormity of his teachings becomes tangibly real when cancer comes into your life. It’s one o’clock in the afternoon, and my husband, John, is asleep. He’s no slacker; he’s recovering from…
Walk with me, Jesus
It is Easter season in the Christian community and, like many gospel preachers around the world, I have taken as my Sunday texts the stories of the Risen Lord: How he appeared to his friends and followers, and how they…
Forget empathy, the new war is on lament
Ever since Joe Rigney released his book about empathy being a sin, the TheoBros of conservative evangelicalism have been piling into his bus, demonizing empathy for those they run over as “the greatest rhetorical tool of manipulation in the 21st…
You won’t believe our story of Medicaid waste, fraud and abuse
Three days before what we thought would be my wife, Ruth Ellen’s, final surgery for stage three breast cancer, my mind was racing as I was trying to finish moving out of our old house while confirming plans for where…
As Biden faces cancer diagnosis, Trump family and MAGA hurl insults
It didn’t take MAGA world long to hurl insults and conspiracy theories after learning former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. While progressive and conservative politicians and pundits alike were quick to offer…
Politics, faith and mission: A conversation with Nancy French
I’ve known Nancy French for some years now, if by “know” we count social media connection, which I do. I’ve gotten out of the habit of talking about disagreements with people; I look for places of connection and ask whether…
I’m learning to live with cancer
My cell phone rang as I was working my way through the morning meds and procedures that are part of Day 4 after a mastectomy. I didn’t recognize the Dallas number, but these days there are so many calls from…
What grief, denial and fear have to do with the evangelical fascination with Trump
“Whether Trump means it or not is kind of irrelevant because he’s saying the things to people who are hurting,” filmmaker Michael Moore told a gathering of voters in his 2016 documentary TrumpLand. “It’s why every beaten down, nameless, forgotten working stiff who…
Joni Eareckson Tada keeps the faith through a lifetime of ministry
At the age of 17, Joni Eareckson Tada made what would turn out to be a life-changing decision. She dived into shallow water in the Chesapeake Bay, which resulted in paralysis throughout most of her body. Six decades later, Tada…
One malignant tumor, 2 surgeries and 6 weeks of radiation — never felt more blessed
Just as my eyes fluttered open, Joanna looked over the side of my gurney and said words on which my life pivoted: “Dr. Steckler said you won’t die from this.” Even through the fog of anesthesia, I realized that brief…