To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. “I think this is the neatest gift you have ever given me.” My wife spoke those words to me about 25 years ago on Christmas Day. While every husband yearns to hear such praise, what Mary Sue had just unwrapped was a 16-inch blade Stihl chainsaw. She was beaming. Mary Sue grew up loving tools. … Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. When most people think of Mary Poppins, they smile. They picture the warm-hearted and charming Julie Andrews starring in the Disney adaptation of P.L. Travers’ famous children’s book. The English nanny, who is “practically perfect in every way,” is blessed with a magic compass, bottomless bag, and an umbrella that allows… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. “A picture is worth a thousand words,” according to the old adage. If that’s so, it’s difficult to calculate how many words it would take to express the worth of one of the most extraordinary pictures in human history. It’s called the Hubble Deep Field image. It’s actually a combination of hundreds of separate… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. “Hope is good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies” (Andy, wrongfully imprisoned in The Shawshank Redemption). “Let me tell you something, my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane” (Andy’s skeptical friend Red, who’s been in that same prison for… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. The month of January is named for the Roman god Janus. Janus was one weird-looking dude. He was customarily portrayed with two faces. One face was looking toward the past, while the other was pointed toward the future. Janus thus became the Roman god of doors, transitions, time, passages, and change itself. He has… Read more »
Words cannot express what a privilege it has been to be part of your mornings the past twelve months. As in past years, I’m going to step back this week and take a five-day “Sabbath rest.” Morning reflections will return next Monday, January 2. Until then, may God bless you as you ponder his gifts of grace during the past year, and the… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Throughout the season of Advent – which this year encompasses the four weeks leading up to December 25 – we’re looking at classic Christmas movies and how they might connect us to the miracle of God choosing to become a human being. And finally, here at the end of the month, we… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Throughout the season of Advent – which this year encompasses the four weeks leading up to December 25 – we’re looking at classic Christmas movies and how they might connect us to the miracle of God choosing to become a human being. “Seeing is believing. But sometimes the most real things in… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Throughout the season of Advent – which this year encompasses the four weeks leading up to December 25 – we’re looking at classic Christmas movies and how they might connect us to the miracle of God choosing to become a human being. Watching Love Actually is like grabbing a meal at Golden… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Throughout the season of Advent – which this year encompasses the four weeks leading up to December 25 – we’re looking at classic Christmas movies and how they might connect us to the miracle of God choosing to become a human being. Even in some of the most celebrated “holiday movies,” Christmas… Read more »
