In the not too distant past I sat listening to a United Methodist clergyperson talk about the gifts of the Spirit — a topic in which I have great interest and long involvement. I truly believe that we are imbued with gifts that transcend mere ability or interest. These gifts enable […]
Any unexpected December illness in our household growing up was referred to as reindeer flu… and I’ve got it. Complete physical meltdown over the past 72 hours. Fever, chills, explosive expulsions out every orifice, aches, pains, moaning, cough, congestion… you name it, I got it. Now I am sitting in […]
We all know Christmas is more about giving than receiving, yet the most significant Christmases of all for me are those where through giving I received more than I can describe or explain. There is a magical truth in the simple fact that there is no truly unselfish gift. People […]
I noted with some fascination the annual terrorizing of little children by a loud, aggressive man in a red and white suit. (yes, I mean Santa Claus) This wonderful, jolly, happy icon of Christmas is supposedly the sweetest mythical human being on the face of the planet, yet many children are […]
Every once in a while, I blog about something I consider a “no-brainer,” something so obvious (at least to me…) that I cannot fathom anyone disagreeing. But I am always wrong — there’s no such thing as a sure thing. Case in point: caring for the poor. The idea that […]
I have been following this year’s edition of the so-called “war on Christmas” with a mix of amusement and incredulity. Apart from Fox news and a few conservative-fundamentalist TV stations, I’m not hearing too much about it, but what I do hear and see boggles the imagination. My favorite this […]
Each year, early in December, my thoughts return to my hometown and to some of the significant memories of my young life. One signficant memory concerns one of those eccentric, colorful characters that seem to populate every small midwestern town. These people become accepted fixtures, even though they behave in […]
I read the article yesterday about two homeless Hungarian men who stand to inherit $6.6 billion dollars from their grandmother — of course they have to split it with a sister, but what’s a couple billion between family? Beyond it being one of those “made-for-holiday-TV” type fairy stories, it simply […]
Advent season — the four weeks preceding Christmas — is the launch of the Christian year. It is a significant time of preparation and anticipation. It frames the coming of the Messiah and reminds us how desperately God’s chosen people sought a savior. Everyone knows that, right? Well, not the […]
Something happened a few days ago that keeps pestering me. I made a presentation where I praised the work of a colleague and after the event ended a gentleman came up to me and said, “What you said lacked credibility.” Upon further conversation, I discovered that I didn’t lack credibility […]
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