Mark Twain quipped: “Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company.” How do people of faith get such a bad reputation?
When the Lord made humans “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:26), one of the ways we resemble our Parent is in our capacity for joy. Think how our bodies are…..
While it’s true that God has great plans and purposes for our lives, I worry that we can forget that the Lord cares about our hardships along the way.
Let’s face it: when we hit bad bumps in the road of life, it’s hard to believe what Paul tells us – that all things…..
Charles Dickens opens David Copperfield with: “Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.”
Is this God’s vision of what I called last week – “the greater version of ourselves…..
Thinking about vocation, reminds me of the other, often discounted aspect of God’s call on our lives: our internal transformation. In light of this, I share some thoughts from one of my earliest posts.
When I fully embraced my Christian faith in my late teens, I expected to have God’s help…..
The signs and symbols of vocation filled my dance card last week. Nieces and nephews graduated from high school, my son from college, my husband gave a commencement address and then joined me at a wedding.
On top of all this, in the middle of the week, I attended the Buechner…..
As a little girl, I liked the idea of “spring cleaning.” It was so satisfying to spend time organizing my room or closet and getting all my possessions neatly arranged.
Throughout my adulthood, I’ve been able to revisit that sense of accomplishment from time to time by waiting for the “spirit” to motivate me. It’s…..
One of the things that keep me excited about the Bible is its capacity to surprise us.
For instance, I’ve just finished teaching this year’s Bible Study at my church. In a course I titled “Who Do You Say I Am?” we worked on the four gospels, listening to the testimony…..
When I had to select a domain name for my blog, “Christian Middle” immediately sprang to mind. I wanted my blog to speak – not only in opposition to the excesses of the religious right and left – but also in a voice of conciliation.
Nearly two years later, I find…..
Humans have always had cultural blind spots. In ancient times, every people approached outsiders with suspicion. Even in English we see the remnants of this thinking that “strangers” are “strange.”
Generally, humans gravitate towards others they consider like themselves, eschewing anyone whose difference is off-putting: be it…..
We’re familiar with the expression “Love is blind” referring to romantic love’s inclination to see no faults in one’s beloved. But, in truth, all our emotions have the tendency to cloud our judgment and create spiritual blind spots. How often does our anger over past wrongs inhibit our ability…..