Into the Light||To live with eyes open takes faith. We learn early to screen out everything beyond the task at hand. With jobs in decline, our gaze grows even more shuttered. Fear alternates with forgetfulness. To be ...

Finding our Way to the Kingdom||"Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours."|There are ways of reading Luke's beatitudes that exclude some readers. Am I poor, hungry, weeping, or persecuted? I have not ...

The Power of Love||When we were young, words sprang easily to our lips. "All you need is love." This power could transform this sad old world. I was not born to crush or despise others. Now is the time for redemption. Now ...

The Greatest Commandments|Like a crowd betting on the next race, they circled Jesus to put him to the test. Lawyers, teachers, and priests, they would snare the carpenter's son. They were educated and respected. Jesus ...

Out of Hiding ||There is life in fallow fields. |Bears hibernate, plants go dormant as the cold comes on. |Trees drop leaves and pass the winter stiff and quiet. |Branches creak but do not rustle until spring. |All kinds ...

The Smallness of Beginning||The beginning is small. A seed cupped in our hands drops into the hole and is covered by loose dirt. In darkness the seed stirs. We trust that what lies hidden will push through the soil someday. ...

Ruin descends on the people like a swarm of locusts. All their efforts cannot make this trouble go away. Numb, they hear the trumpet and gather, even the children and the newly wed. As a community they turned from God. ...

Our Indecorous Faith||John the Baptist intrigued Herod. The ragged man of the desert spoke truth to the king. It probably didn't happen often. Even his bushy head on the platter would not quickly erase his words from the ...

Loved Free At Last||The woman was not invited to the dinner. A known sinner, she was shunned by the upright. But she comes anyway and tenderly cares for the one who sets her free.|Simon is troubled by the presence of the ...

Following You||The young man was so bright. He lit up the classroom. That one is smiled upon; he will go far. Somewhere down the line, his thinking scrambled. A new idea clamped down hard. It came up in every discussion: ...