The Trouble with Prophets ||Here he comes. Quick, dodge out of sight, close the door, don't answer the phone. This one brings trouble. |We honor prophets at a distance. Up close we squirm. "Beat your swords into plowshares...do ...

The Gift of Being Here||Herod was perplexed by the reports of Jesus. This one seemed different from the rest.|Vanity of vanities. All is vanity.|The tone of Ecclesiastes is weary as the turning of the earth.|We are born ...

The Footsteps of the Poor||Along the U.S. border with Mexico, a wall has been built. Deadlock over immigration gives rise to a high corrugated metal barrier that separates communities. On the U.S. side, little is said. The ...

A House Built on Rock||In the animated film Happy Feet, the first baby penguin to dive into the ocean had slid on the ice and slipped over the edge. Mumble, the misfit, hit the water first. The other fledglings, stirred ...

I Thirst||In the very sick baby room, Ziggy lies in the first crib. Arms and legs beating like sticks; restless and whining he spends his day. He stretches after each spoonful of cereal but swallows little. Feeding takes ...

Made for Love||Paul sets up a sharp contrast: either saved by faith or ensnared in laws. Faith or Law? Would Jewish converts worship alongside Gentile converts as one community? In the faith tradition that goes back to ...

Our Ways, Your Ways ||Most of the time spent looking for You |We run into ourselves.|Goodness we thought meant getting even. |Stories of ancestors haunt us. |Surely their crimes are remembered. |One day a curse will strike. ...

A Stiff-Necked People||The people complained bitterly to Moses. "What have you gotten us into?" Hunger, heat, and years toiling through the desert brought rebellion. "Wasn' t Egypt a better place to die?" Moses complained ...

More Than We Can Measure|Gideon pledged: I will not rule over the Israelites, nor will my sons. There is no king but Yahweh. But his son did not listen. Abimelech was the lowly buckthorn that set the forest burning. A ...

Doubt||Everything is going strong. We have momentum. Success fires us up. Until events strike hard. Power slips away. I am alone.|Did we leave slavery only to wither in the desert heat? Where is God? Your presence is not ...