To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here What happens when children talk to God? If the missives found in Children’s Letters to God (Workman Publishing, 1966) are any indication, what we get is a good deal more honesty that we generally hear in prayers offered by adults. Cartoonist and playwright Stuart E. “Stoo” Hample collaborated with Eric Marshall… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here How would you fill in this blank? Realistically, before I step out to serve God, I would need more… More what? More time? More money? More training or motivation? Here’s how God fills in the blank in the Old Testament book of Judges: “All you need is more trust. If you… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here A number of years ago a member of my church was felled by a heart attack. Lying comatose for days in the hospital ICU, he hovered between life and death. There was no certainty of recovery. But he did recover. He regained his strength, was restored to his family, and came… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here There are two kinds of trapeze artists: flyers and catchers. Flyers get most of the love. They make amazing leaps. They do somersaults in mid-air. But as devotional writer Henri Nouwen pointed out, the real heroes are the catchers. In his book Our Greatest Gift: A Meditation on Dying and Caring, Nouwen writes: … Read more »
A few minutes after I hit Send on yesterday’s reflection – the one concerning sports mascots, which included the point that no major school’s team is represented by sheep – I myself was taken to school by several readers. The “Dirtbags” are the mascot of Cal State Long Beach, not Cal State Fullerton (which I now know to be… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Have you ever wondered how woodpeckers can slam their heads into trees all day long and not have to pop a couple of ibuprofens? The answer is that a woodpecker’s body is essentially a giant shock absorber. Check out the Pileated Woodpecker above – one of America’s largest perching bird species, and the inspiration… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. The Dead Sea is one of the earth’s most extraordinary natural features. This large lake, located on the border of Israel and Jordan, is the lowest point on the surface of the planet – a full one-third of a mile below sea level. It’s not shallow, either. At one spot it’s 997… Read more »
Throughout the month of August, we’re taking a close look at 23 verses of the New Testament. They comprise Ephesians chapter one, which paints one of the Bible’s most comprehensive pictures of what it means for ordinary people to be “in Christ.” At the midpoint of Paul’s remarkable run-on declaration concerning where Christians stand with God, all the verbs have had… Read more »
For the four weeks leading up to and going beyond Easter, let’s take a look at the life of Peter. Because he’s so often at the center of both the brightest and darkest moments in the Gospels, he has always been a source of hope and inspiration for those endeavoring to follow Jesus. “But when he saw the wind, he… Read more »
A few years ago, as the workplace pastor for a faith-friendly healthcare organization, I visited one of the office work teams. I was holding something in my left hand, which was tightly closed. “So what do you think I’m holding right now? Anybody want to take a guess?” There were lots of guesses. A coin. A marble. An acorn. I… Read more »
