I taught 2nd grade at a small Christian school for a couple of years before moving up to 6th grade. I remember one day in class talking about James, the brother of Jesus. You would have thought I had just told them that the Easter Bunny was real the way some of them reacted to…
Unlike the people of Jesus’ day, or any modern-day religious Jew, most of us do not have the Old Testament as part of our collective memory. Unlike us, the Israelites of Jesus’ day had in their imaginations signs, images, and longings that were formed through their people’s history and the work of God among them….
Today’s younger generations, according to the Pew Research Center, may be leaving religion for good. Four in ten millennials now say they are religiously unaffiliated. They are “now almost as likely to say they have no religion as they are to identify as Christian.“ (1) This may sound alarming especially if you live in a…
She knocked on the dorm room door with fuzzy Sponge Bob pajama pants and a bowl of cereal in hand, looking for a little milk. Her hallmate, the student leader with whom I was co-hosting a small group Bible study, shared some milk and invited her to sit in on our study. The dynamic in…
According to Guinness World Records, “There is little doubt that the Bible is the world’s best-selling and most widely distributed book.” And yet, for a book acclaimed for the teachings of Jesus, its readers—and teachers—have vastly different ideas of what it looks like to follow these teachings. Our tendency is to approach the Bible as…
In July 2020, author and radio host, Eric Metaxas, tweeted, “Jesus was white.”(1) His tweet was in response to news that the United Methodist Church had enlisted author Robin DiAngelo to produce a series of videos about white privilege. He went on to say, “Did [Jesus] have ‘white privilege’ even though he was entirely without…
Each Thursday evening, my routine is the same. Swirl into the house after dinner with my in-laws, help get the bedtime routine off to a solid start, pop downstairs to make a quick cup of tea, and then head back upstairs to the office, where I settle into the rocking chair nestled in the far…
It’s been more than 50 years, but I can still picture the scene: my family sitting at the dinner table when the phone rings. My dad answers, not saying much. And then the pronouncement: our sweet little dog, Ginger, was gone. I was very young, so I didn’t understand everything, but I understood that I…
I sit on a black leather couch next to my husband, Kevin, in our grief-counselor’s office. A box of Kleenex rests on a small coffee table in front of us, and one of those framed pieces of coffee-shop art—a black and white photograph of rough-hewn hands holding coffee beans—hangs on the wall above us. Coffee…
How does a mother learn to breathe again after her baby dies? One breath in. One breath out. And then again. And again. I delivered two healthy sons before experiencing my first miscarriage—the deepest form of personal crisis I’ve yet endured, leaving me reeling and disoriented. And then I experienced another. And another. And another….
I feel sad, and I don’t want to feel sad. My husband and I have begun a conversation about moving from the neighborhood and the town where we have spent decades. Rather than feeling sad, I want to focus my emotional energy on the joys of new opportunities and new adventures. I don’t enjoy the…
I’ve started lighting a candle every time I lose something. Not when I lose something like my keys or cell phone. I light a candle when I face the kind of loss that causes grief—from the seemingly insignificant grief of the loss of time with friends during a pandemic year, to the more recognizable grief…
Your loved one has died. The shock wears off and there are arrangements to be made, people to call. And in between, you ask yourself if it’s real. Grief comes and makes himself comfortable in your life. And you quietly wonder if he’ll ever leave. But what if there are no arrangements to be made…
I once lived in a second-story condo along a large river and if I’d had any arm strength whatsoever, it would’ve been a stone’s throw from the water. A pair of great blue herons lived within sight of what was my favorite spot—an 8×5 deck just off the dining room. I never grew bored of…