To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Linda Wilson-Allen drives a metro-transit bus in San Francisco. But she is no ordinary bus driver. A few years ago, just before Thanksgiving, she saw a woman named Tanya standing in a bus shelter. Linda knows the people along her route so well that she instantly recognized Tanya as a newcomer to the area. … Read more »
It is difficult to overstate how unpleasant it was to live in a city in the ancient Mediterranean world. As historian Rodney Stark documents in his book The Triumph of Christianity, the earliest generations of Jesus’ followers tended to live and serve in urban areas like Antioch, Ephesus, Corinth and Philippi. These places were more crowded, crime-infested, and disease-ridden than… Read more »
According to Greek mythology, Narcissus was a spectacularly handsome young man. Every female in his zip code yearned for his affection. He could have cared less. In the words of author Eugene Peterson, “Narcissus had no time for them. He was all the company he needed. He could not waste time on anyone. He required his full attention.” The beautiful… Read more »
Generally speaking, it’s not a good idea to deliver a sermon with the express intention of sending a message to the President of the United States. Then again, most preachers don’t have the chief executive sitting in their sanctuary on a Sunday morning. On February 7, 1954, Rev. George MacPherson Docherty – the Scottish-born pastor of New York Avenue Presbyterian… Read more »
