Anna is the very last character in the Christmas Story. Mary and Joseph have left behind the shepherds and the stable animals, stopping in the temple to fulfill their requirements of their faith. Upon arrival, they meet Simeon the Priest who would perform the...
03430 – Unthinking Faith
Unthinking faith is a curious offering to be made to the creator of the human mind.
03410 – Faith and Light
Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns.
03369 – Laments
Lament is a cry from the gut. Some of the passages in the lament psalms are so raw we seldom read them in public worship. Their inclusion in our Scripture, however, reminds us there's no feeling that's outside the bounds of our faith.
03362 – Faith & Love
The whole being of any Christian is faith and love. Faith brings the person to God, love brings the person to people.
03305 – Faith & Doubt
A faith without some doubts is like a human body with no antibodies in it. People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask the hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless against either the experience of tragedy...
03302 – “Follies of God”
For nothing is fixed, forever and forever and forever, it is not fixed; the earth is always shifting, the light is always changing, the sea does not cease to grind down rock. Generations do not cease to be born, and we are responsible to them because we are the only...
03274 – Take the Pain Away?
I went to church, thinking it would be like an epidural, that it would take the pain away... But church isn't like an epidural; it's like a midwife... I thought faith would say, "I'll take away the pain and discomfort," but what it ended up saying was, "I'll sit with...
03255 – Faith was Intended to be…
Faith was never intended to be a destination, a status, a holding tank, or a warehouse. Instead, it was to be a road, a path, a way out of old and destructive patterns into new and creative ones. If a spiritual community only points back to where it has been, or if it...
03236 – Living One’s Faith
I know that the only way for me to live my faith is to try to do what is right, to take the long view, to give of my best in all that the day brings, and to put my trust in God.