In the mid-‘50s, when I was a Boy Scout, the Scout motto was "be prepared." I never quite knew what I was to be prepared for, but recalling the hours spent discussing water...
“Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, ...
For much of my life, I thought saints and mystics were the only people really concerned about spiritual matters. I thought their monastic life was necessary for the in-flooding of God’s Spirit. As...
My Uncle Windy was the most independent man I ever knew—a tall, good-looking white-haired John Wayne. Courteous to the ladies, but otherwise so private that after Aunt Ruby died he moved to an...
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. . . . By faith Jacob, when...
When a team wins the Super Bowl, we still feel a need to single out the Most Valuable Player. Our culture emphasizes...
By rep. 11 of a 15-rep. set of exquisite tortures devised by my half-my-age-but-twice-as-buff trainer, I was struggling. He noticed. (He always does.) My arms were beginning to wobble a little, and...
If we look closely inside the routines of our daily lives, we can find hints of God’s grace.
Recently, during a year of research leave from my university, I made a series of journeys—pilgrimages, actually—to Mount Athos, Greece. Known to some as “the Holy Mountain,” this isolated part of...
Years ago a student of mine entered a laboratory to prepare for an academic medical career. In the prior eleven years, she had amassed many skills; now with this further training, her future would...
When Jesus ascended to Heaven to return to His Father, the eleven disciples stood and watched Him rise through the clouds. An angel in the clouds nearby saw Jesus pass by and called...
We were new Christians and our oil exploration company was small, but some of us had decided to meet before work in the conference room to pray for each other and for the...
Christians in the workplace often wonder if what they do has eternal value or significance. Is all work in answer to God’s call? What about when work seems nonproductive or meaningless? ...
Since it began 35 years ago, Harvard University's legendary course on Sigmund Freud and C. S. Lewis...
I have been a writer for 28 years, and anyone who creates anything knows the road is paved with doubt. Can I write? Am I a fool to think that I can compete...
A cold Boston breeze rushed as I drove from the airport to a hospital to be with my eighty-year-old mother. One week earlier her life was a simple routine. Then came a heart...
Blaise Pascal wrote something in his book Pensees that has always troubled me: “Men (humans) never delight in doing evil as much as if they can do it for religious reasons.” How chilling. Pascal...
It is right to give thanks for the strength that helps us endure and for the grace that forges holy friendships that sustain us.
The biggest geek in the senior class is sitting alone in the bustling high school cafeteria. He stares self-consciously at his plate, pushes his food around, counts the minutes until the period is...
The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." ...
