My family moved into our current home in 2009. The house was built in the late 1980’s and many of the plants in the yard were well established. One of our favorite features is a cluster of azaleas that sits between two large oaks in our back yard. The two weeks when they display brilliant [...]

“So, you’re a President and a CEO?” This slightly overstated question was posed to me with a touch of friendly, sarcastic inflection by a former associate in the world of broadcast media. For my first job out of college in 1990, I toiled in the sports department at a small market television station. I enjoyed [...]

Are you a patient person? To ask another way, are you good at waiting? Patience can be a test of our physical, emotional, or spiritual limits. When we consider what it takes to be a well-waiting person, it’s not about the interval or the outcome, but making the most of the meantime. The old expression [...]

              How often do we wear the cross? Not a cross, but the cross. A cross might be a piece of jewelry, such as a necklace, symbolizing our faith as a Christian. Nothing wrong with doing that! However, it’s just decoration unless the words or actions of the one [...]

The season of Lent is meant to be a time of self-examination, intentional spiritual discipline, and deepening of the holy habits that inform Christian living. The tradition of fasting, whether it be of food, some daily activity, or even restraint of unhealthy practices, is intended to remind us of our dependence upon God and our need to grow [...]

When I was a teenager, I discovered a weekly column called “Thanks a Million” written by wealthy businessman and philanthropist Percy Ross. People who needed help would write to Mr. Ross explaining their situation and asking for financial assistance. Portions of the requests were included along with Percy’s rationale for his decision, which usually contained [...]

I recently came across a 2022 story from the long-running CBS current events program 60 Minutes. The segment was about the betrayal of Anne Frank and her family during the Holocaust. In 1944, Nazi officials were alerted to the specific location where young Anne and her Jewish family were hiding in Amsterdam. They were indeed [...]

This Sunday many preachers who follow the Revised Standard Lectionary will use Luke 6:27-38 as their main text.  The words Jesus utters in those verses should convince anyone that being a Jesus follower is not just a matter of “believing” or having the “right” theology.  It involves living toward others, without exclusion, a life of [...]

“Grace and peace to you from God, through our Savior Jesus Christ.” This is a salutation Paul used in some form to open many of his epistles. I thought I would use it here as the Holy Spirit has drawn me to invite us to ponder one of the most excellent transitional moments in all [...]

I greet you in the name of Christ, our Savior…who was, and is, and is to come! Recently I had lunch with two clergy colleagues who are both currently on sabbatical. It was great to catch up with them, learn how they are spending their sabbath time, and to listen as they each expressed what [...]