To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Every day during this season of Lent we’re looking at the miracles of Jesus – his spectacular displays of supernatural power that are reported in the Gospels. Among the three dozen or so miracles that are attributed to Jesus, one of them scales two first-century social barriers in a single bound. That’s impressive. At… Read more »
Ugliness can give birth to beautiful things. It’s difficult to overstate the ugliness of the Caribbean sugar cane plantations of the 18th and 19th centuries. African slaves were forced to work in brutal conditions so middle-class Europeans could spoon sugar into their cups of coffee and tea. The slaves clung to as much of their indigenous culture as they could. That included… Read more »
Today marks the first celebration of America’s twelfth federal holiday. On June 18, 1865, Union soldiers under the command of Major General Gordon Granger landed at Galveston, Texas. He brought news of something that had happened more than two months earlier: Confederate General Robert E. Lee had surrendered his Army of Virginia at Appomattox. The Civil War had officially ended…. Read more »
