To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here What’s the key relational issue in the Bible? That’s easy: It’s forgiveness. Apart from the willingness and the ability to forgive, human relationships simply hit the wall. But how do we forgive monsters – the people who have ravaged our memories, our reputations, our bodies, and our souls? Here is where… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here There were no fall harvest festivals in ancient Israel. That’s because the growing season in the Promised Land, at least from our perspective, seems to be upside-down. Yes, the so-called “latter grapes” were gathered in the middle of autumn. Otherwise, the months of October and November were for ploughing and sowing…. Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here It’s time to take on what some counselors and psychologists call the Other F Word. Fine. As in, “How are you doing?” “I’m fine, thank you.” End of conversation. End of communication. Except, “fine” hardly qualifies as an authentic meeting of minds and hearts. “Fine” can be a one-word stand-in for a remarkable… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here What drives the Literati – the lovers of what is commonly identified as Great Literature – absolutely crazy? It’s the fact that the vast majority of ordinary people would rather enjoy a fairy tale than dig into a “serious story.” The Academy Award for Best Picture is annually granted to a… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Most people have encountered, at one time or another, an inspirational piece called Footprints in the Sand. It describes a man who dreams that he is confronting God because he sees two sets of footprints when he looks back over his life – his prints and God’s prints – and is… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here In 1982, Chuck Colson brought a team of Prison Fellowship workers to the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. There they led a worship service for the inmates, including a number of offenders on Death Row. Colson spoke movingly of God’s gifts of hope, healing, and forgiveness, available to everyone. Then… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Sports attendance, sports betting, and sports talk represent one of the most dominant realities on the American scene. It’s all sports all the time. Right? To quote a popular sports adage, “Numbers never lie.” Let’s add together the most recent regular season total attendance figures of America’s four major professional sports… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here My mom, who stepped into the next world seven years ago at the age of 92, was somewhat eccentric. She had a lifelong love affair with chocolate and All Things Sugary. She appreciated bright colors, goofy little slogans, pictures of cats wearing tuxedos, and anything that happened to depict a moose…. Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here His real name was Jean-François Gravelet. But shortly after he launched his career in the 1840s as Europe’s greatest “funambulist” or tightrope walker, the Frenchman began calling himself Charles Blondin. And it wasn’t long before that had morphed into Blondin the Great. He was a fairly ordinary-looking fellow – just five-foot five inches… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here For multitudes of individuals and organizations, the holidays have become the season of compassion. But how do we help without hurting? That question has consumed Robert Lupton, author of the bestseller Toxic Charity, for more than 50 years. In his work as a community redeveloper in Atlanta, Lupton began to notice… Read more »
