To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Membership has its privileges. That’s the marketing slogan American Express copyrighted in 1980, the beginning of what became a “what’s-in-it-for-me” American decade. As one would-be church member asked me while I was planting a Presbyterian congregation during that time, “What do I get if I join?” The first time I replied… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Mark Twain cherished no love for Christian missionaries. In 1872, the famous author and satirist declared, “Hawaiians enjoyed an idyllic life before the missionaries braved a thousand privations to come and make them permanently miserable by telling them how beautiful and blissful a place heaven is, and how nearly impossible it… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Denmark has never been considered a center for global cinema. Only a handful of Danish movies, in fact, have ever received an Academy Award. But the first one to accomplish that – Babette’s Feast, winner of the 1987 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film (based on a story by Danish writer… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here This very day, millions of Americans will have the chance to see something they may never see again. Purdue University is playing in the March Madness championship game. OK, there’s that. But an event of vastly greater significance than what’s happening to my alma mater will be happening in the skies… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Be afraid. Be very afraid. At least, that’s how your local Canada goose wants you to feel. First things first: that beast with the long black neck and white “chinstrap” – the bird that may be trying to scare you out of a neighborhood parking lot – is a Canada goose, not… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here A number of years ago, author and pastor Eugene Peterson was called to launch a new Presbyterian congregation in suburban Baltimore. One of his obligations during the church’s first three years was to write a monthly report to denominational headquarters. The initial part of the report was statistical: attendance, new members, financial… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here In the ancient world it took guts to tell the future. Literally. If you lived in Athens or Rome and had to make a crucial decision about whom to marry, where to build a house, or whether to start a war, you’d begin by “taking the auspices.” That might mean examining… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Before my two brothers and I got too old to attempt new outdoor adventures, we decided to hike about 45 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Our time together began like all such quests – with glorious optimism. The AT is rugged and beautiful. It meanders… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here From time to time, author and humorist Mark Twain was asked, “Of all your accomplishments, which one makes you the most proud?” He always gave the same answer: “I’m most proud that I was born on November 30.” Say what? Twain was born on November 30, 1835, at 11:10 pm. Hurtling… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Every day during this season of Lent we’re looking at the miracles of Jesus – his spectacular displays of supernatural power that are reported in the Gospels. On a wintry night in 1804, the president of the United States began work on a secret project that had interested him for a long… Read more »
