I grew up believing Christmas was a time when strange and wonderful things happened. Wise and royal visitors came riding in the lunar light of a special star when God came to earth as the Messiah Child to live among us. Immanuel, God with us . . . and within us. There has been a robbery. Stealing away the Christmas of old, … [Read more...]
Gift of Wonder
Today is the first Sunday of Advent, the grateful reminder that God gave His divine best to all humanity once upon a midnight clear. There was no room at the inn for the holiness that came down on the first Christmas, and during the commercial rush that consumes our October through December, there still isn’t. Watching the … [Read more...]
The Thanksgiving Chair
“Over the meadow and through the woods”. . . the words of an old song depict a Rockwell-esque setting held only in our imagination. Thanksgiving is a time when we take mental inventory of our many blessings. A family tradition is to go around the table and share our thanks or put a written slip into a basket and guess which … [Read more...]
The One We Seek Is Not Hiding
In the scrapbook of my mind I still see my children scrambling to search for friends while playing the game of Hide and Seek. Lifting lids, checking dark corners, sneaking behind the barn, looking up in the apple tree, diligently trying to find the one who was hiding. Sometimes in frustration they would walk away from the game … [Read more...]
Under the Table
A Gentile woman travels far to find Jesus. She hears that He is the One who can help her demon-possessed daughter. She has a few things against her. She's a woman. She's a pagan. She's a peasant. The disciples are annoyed and demand that she be sent away. Jesus ignores her. But, she has an expectation of the One she is … [Read more...]