For the last two months our Old Testament readings have been following the story of Moses and the people of Israel as they journey through the wilderness to the land that God first promised to Abraham and Sarah long, long ago. When the story begins, the Israelites are...
“A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” These words from the prophet Jeremiah are not in the scripture readings appointed for...
Jesus said, “A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not,’ but later he changed his mind and went. “The father went to the second and said the same; and he...
This weekend is a special time for our Jewish brothers and sisters. At sunset Friday they began celebrating Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. Rosh Hashana is not a one-day celebration. It is the beginning of Judaism’s High Holy Days, which end with Yom Kippur,...
Ever since reading today’s Gospel this week I have been thinking about a young man I once knew named Todd. Todd grew up in the Midwest as a Jehovah’s Witness. His father was a leader in that denomination’s hierarchy. His mother was active in the local...
In the opening pages of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the penultimate volume in that magical series, the prime minister of England is worried. Strange and ominous things have been happening across his country – dozens have died when a well-built,...
For these four and a half months since Joe’s death I have been slowly going through his things, deciding what to keep and what to donate or throw away. Joe was, to put it politely, a bit of a packrat, so there is a lot to sort through. Sometimes in the...
The original source of this quote is uncertain, but the words have stayed with me since I first heard them in seminary many years ago. “A preacher,” the theologian said, “should have the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.” Since I spent many years...
