She was one of several people who came up after I’d read some fiction at a small college in Ontario, Canada. She was tall and thin and had the unmistakable allure of affluence...
A clear creek laughs and gurgles through the hills, pooling in the deep shade of cypress trees. A dozen cabins rest among clusters of mesquite and cedar; children splash in the river and parents...
My first experience with perseverance was somewhere around age one, when I began to walk. Again and again, I fell down and I got up—or pulled myself up. Until the day I could...
Once upon a time, there was a man named Reprobus, which means Outcast. He was very big, very strong, very ugly, very...
What ever happened to neighbors? We used to know who they were—the folks next door, those we worked or studied with or...
From the vantage of the 21st century and the passage of some 40 years, I smile to recall the difficulty I had accepting a woman Bible professor my first year of college. Her...
During an interview I recently watched on TV, a service station attendant was asked what he thought should be done about high gasoline prices. “I think we should drill Alaska,” he said. “That way...
Of the fifty or sixty Jesus movies made since the invention of cinema, The Passion of the Christ may well be the best, or the worst, depending on your point of view. But...
Several Sundays ago, at a church picnic, I noticed a woman sitting by herself, eating at a picnic table. I’d seen her before, at services, always alone and forlorn-looking. We’d just heard a.....
Personal resolve in action and behavior is not always easy, especially when others throw obstacles in our way. A story in Acts 19 of the New Testament illustrates personal resolve that was almost...
Jesus withdrew from his disciples about a stone's throw, knelt down, and prayed, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done." Then an...
Blessed are the . . . Matt. 5:3–11 ...
Each fall, thousands of people gather in New York City at the Verrazano Bridge, which runs from Staten Island into Manhattan. Five hours later, most of them complete the New York City Marathon. ...
Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might. ...
You know how grey days in Lent can be, as if replaying in Nature the events leading up to the Crucifixion. On just such a day, I was standing in an empty hospital...
I grew up with a traditional definition of grace as God’s unmerited favor. With time, my definition had to flip-flop and expand. What if grace were better defined as unfavored merit—as God’s... ...
Ever had a friend who keeps having the same problems over and over? Or found yourself facing similar dilemmas in your own life, time after time? How could you not? By that I...
At first, I couldn’t understand the loss I felt when I heard Fred Schweg had died. ...
Unfinished work with our parents or siblings will haunt us and continually erode other relationships if we do not give it our careful, prayerful attention. ...
Gail was in her 40s when her mother died suddenly. The loss was a blow. Her father had died years before, and Gail had not married. She'd expected to enjoy her mother for...
