It starts in late September with the pricking of my skin and spirit; autumn creeps in. Resembling Tom Fury, the lightning rod salesman from Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes, bringing with it “a storm like a great beast…
Jesus scares or Jesus cares?
After the violent attack on her husband Paul, Nancy Pelosi released a statement saying she and her family are heartbroken and traumatized but are grateful for the prayers and warm wishes they have received. Her husband is improving. Then she…
Heaven and hell: Trick or treat?
Mallory Challis’ recent analysis — “Most Americans believe in heaven or hell, but their ideas aren’t always biblical”— of what people believe about the afterlife begs a question: Which works better to incentivize behavior, heaven or hell? It’s a variation…
It’s scary to watch fearmongers at work (but not in the way they think)
Raise your hand if you’re already sick of political ads. Much of the country still hasn’t voted in the primaries, and all of us have the general election to go. At this point, we can safely predict (a) 2022 is…
Faced with a frightening dream, my father with dementia showed me the way
A few nights ago, I had a dream that terrified me. Actually, it woke me up feeling physically ill in my waking moments. I was on the side of a mountain that had a series of large boulders lining it….
Listening to the Spirit through the catch in the throat
This has been a hard year. Let me count the ways. In 2020, the ravages of COVID-19 forced Nancy and I to flee our home and move in with one of our children. As 2021 began, we were able to return,…
Infertility and Roe v. Wade
Editor’s note: In exceptionally rare circumstances, BNG publishes opinion pieces without identifying the author. This is one of those rare cases where, due to the intensely personal nature of the story told and the likelihood of jeopardizing a ministerial career,…
Apocalypse now? If only it were that easy!
I was scared; 16 years old and scared. Jesus Christ was going to return at any moment, and I was scared. It was the last night of church camp, and the preacher had practically promised that Jesus Christ would return…
Negative emotions increased worldwide in 2020, and not just because of COVID
New research shows that 2020 gave much of the world’s population a whole lot more to frown about, and not only because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 Gallup “Global Emotions” survey, which tracks negative and positive experiences, reports that…