A crop of young faces sprouted at one of the main intersections of our town this summer. The faces belong to Independence High School’s Graduating Class of 2020, but they represent a generation of young people hoping to make their…
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said many memorable things through his speeches. His last one, delivered the night of April 3, 1968—the night before he was assassinated—is famous for how it ended. He said “I’ve seen the promised land. I…
“Hanging onto resentment is letting someone you despise live rent-free in your head.” — Ann Landers, advice columnist Do a web search and you’ll find a lot of people have appropriated Ms. Landers’ quote and weaponized it into a meme. Bragging…
As the father of two sons with autism, and as a man who studies scripture, I can’t help but wonder: Could Jesus and the prophets have been autistic? As depicted in the Bible, Jesus and the prophets exhibit some autistic…
Blood has been the cause of much solemnity this year—both its infection and its wanton spilling. And while we were sheltering in place for a few months, we had a lot of time to consider our blood relation to God.…
That’s us! We’re referred to as “stiff-necked” (stubborn as an ox) at least 18 times in scripture. Anyone with a family KNOWS it’s true. The worst offenders can be those closest to us. God Himself—although He loves His children—can barely…
With more and more people wearing face masks to protect themselves and others from the Corona Virus, social interactions aren’t as pretty as when our faces were naked. In fact communication is much more difficult. Facial expression is a universal…
Throughout the Easter liturgies, we’ve meditated on how God died as one of us so we could live in Him. Humanity has always yearned for union with His spirit, but nobody expressed that yearning more soulfully than Jesus’ earthly ancestor,…
Over the centuries, human beings have turned lying into an art. We’re especially good at lying to ourselves. That particular sin costs us dearly—as we learn from a great piece of literature: The Brothers Karamazov. In this novel, Fyodor Dostoevsky…
For those who thought this Easter season was over already, allow me to share a little Easter memory from its beginning a few weeks ago. It’s actually a reminder for all of us. A friend called on Holy Saturday to…