To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was sick with grief as Christmas approached in 1863. He was still mourning the death of his wife Frances, who had died in a house fire. His oldest son, Charles Appleton Longfellow, or Charlie, had enlisted to fight for the North in the Civil War – against his father’s wishes. On… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Once again this year, our Christmas tree is overloaded with ornaments that our kids made when they barely knew how to use scissors or color within the lines. I’m pretty sure that our grown-up children, who are now in their 30s and 40s, could do a whole lot better. Does that mean we should… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here After the first screening of The Wizard of Oz in 1939, the producers decided to cut two songs. One was “The Jitterbug,” which was performed in the Haunted Forest by the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and Dorothy. And Toto, too, of course. Another was a song that MGM boss Louis G. Mayer… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here In 1915, Dorothy Sayers became one of the first women ever to graduate from prestigious Oxford University in England. Actually, she wasn’t given a degree. That was a privilege granted only to men. Sayers finally received her sheepskin retroactively in 1920, when Oxford concluded that women might be worthy of academic accolades after all. … Read more »
Throughout this season of Advent our focus is “The Story of Christmas in 20 Words.” On each of the 20 weekday mornings ending on Christmas Eve, we’ll spotlight a single word from the Gospel accounts that helps us ponder more deeply the birth of Jesus. 20. Believe If the notion that God became a human being is more than just… Read more »
Throughout this season of Advent our focus is “The Story of Christmas in 20 Words.” On each of the 20 weekday mornings ending on Christmas Eve, we’ll spotlight a single word from the Gospel accounts that helps us ponder more deeply the birth of Jesus. 19. Herod Christmas is the only holy day that is also a secular holiday. … Read more »
Throughout this season of Advent our focus is “The Story of Christmas in 20 Words.” On each of the 20 weekday mornings ending on Christmas Eve, we’ll spotlight a single word from the Gospel accounts that helps us ponder more deeply the birth of Jesus. 18. Hope It’s impossible to tell the story of Christmas without spotlighting hope. Ironically, the… Read more »
Throughout this season of Advent our focus is “The Story of Christmas in 20 Words.” On each of the 20 weekday mornings ending on Christmas Eve, we’ll spotlight a single word from the Gospel accounts that helps us ponder more deeply the birth of Jesus. 17. Light For years following the release of his 1946 holiday classic, It’s a Wonderful… Read more »
Throughout this season of Advent our focus is “The Story of Christmas in 20 Words.” On each of the 20 weekday mornings ending on Christmas Eve, we’ll spotlight a single word from the Gospel accounts that helps us ponder more deeply the birth of Jesus. 16. Bethlehem Big things happen in small towns. There are more than 19,500 American communities… Read more »
Throughout this season of Advent our focus is “The Story of Christmas in 20 Words.” On each of the 20 weekday mornings ending on Christmas Eve, we’ll spotlight a single word from the Gospel accounts that helps us ponder more deeply the birth of Jesus. 15. Salvation “Her name was Pandy. She had lost a good deal of her hair,… Read more »
