Monthly Archives: September 2022

The Gift of Clarity

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To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. It can be a hoot to read some of the actual statements that have been submitted on auto insurance claim forms. Here’s a handful that have been floating around the internet the past few years: “Coming home, I drove into the wrong house and collided with a tree I don’t have.” “My car was… Read more »

A Cup of Cold Water

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To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. In AD 165, during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, a virus brought the Roman Empire to its knees. A deadly epidemic swept across the Mediterranean world.  Historians guess that it was smallpox, making its first incursion into a population that had no immunity.  Whole cities and provinces were abandoned and fell into ruin. … Read more »

Wedding Ring

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To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. When a woman named Angi realized that her marriage had come to an end – that her husband had really left her and wasn’t coming back – she wondered how she could possibly survive the pain. Even after the judge declared the finality of her divorce, she couldn’t bear to remove her… Read more »

Pick Up a Broom

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To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Michael Simone, a pastor in Virginia, calls it Broom Theology. As a young man Simone worked for a trucking company.  On slow days at the warehouse, when there weren’t many trucks to load, he and his friends would tend to stand around. That’s when one of the older warehouse bosses would always say,… Read more »

The Quest for the Holy Grail

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To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. King Arthur is alive and well. That’s good news for someone who reigned in England some 1500 years ago, and whose very existence is questioned by numerous medieval scholars.  With the passing of time, an astonishing number of legendary stories have become attached to his name.  Purdue professor Dorsey Armstrong, an… Read more »

Thank God It’s Friday

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To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Author and pastor John Ortberg has playfully imagined how the book of Genesis might read if God approached work the way we so often do: In the beginning, it was nine o’clock, so God had to go to work.  He filled out a requisition to separate light from darkness.  He considered making stars… Read more »

Q&A with Glenn

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To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Once a year, instead of posting a “regular” reflection, I have the chance to step back to address some of the questions I hear most often from readers. When you look at the world these days, what grabs your attention? It’s impossible not to notice how hard it is for people to talk to… Read more »

Don’t Freak Out

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To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Eight summers ago, my two brothers and I embarked on the trip of a lifetime. Over the course of six days we traveled 100 miles in wooden dories on the turbulent Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.  It was a blast. We experienced about 30 sets of rapids, three of which at the time… Read more »

A Sacrifice for Someone Else

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To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. For most churches, Christmas Eve and Easter Sunday are the two annual high-water marks for attendance.  Mother’s Day often comes in third.  It has become an opportunity to celebrate the crucial role that parents (especially moms) play in raising up the next generation of Christian disciples.  Years ago I remember standing… Read more »

Taking Care of God’s House

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To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. In 2008, three former college schoolmates living in San Francisco came up with a novel idea. Since hotel accommodations in the Bay Area were both hard to find and exceedingly expensive, they devised a website that would help out-of-towners locate short-term living quarters and breakfast – essentially, an opportunity for guests to… Read more »