If religious patriarchy was true, the angel of the Lord would have spoken first to Manoah about the miraculous conception of Samson. Instead, he spoke to Manoah’s wife—a woman—alone (Judges 13:2-24). If religious patriarchy was true, the angel Gabriel would have...
Advent is a good time to remember that “biblical womanhood” must include the scene in Luke 1 when two pregnant women celebrate their new motherhood by passionately discussing the overthrow of every earthly empire. “He has brought down the mighty from their...
How we learn to live with the death of a loved one differs with each one of us. We must all find a way to grieve. As the theologian, Tom Wright said, "Not to grieve, not to lament is to slam the door on the very same place in the innermost heart from which love itself...
The most common one-liner in the Bible is, "Do not be afraid." Someone counted, and it occurs 365 times. from Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life
When we think about the Annunciation, this scene between the angel Gabriel and Mary, we think of the faith it took for her to believe that she would conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit and that her son, the illegitimate child of an insignificant girl, really...
The most common greeting of the first Christmas was not ‘Merry Christmas.’ It was ‘Don’t be afraid!’ It took real courage and perseverance to be at the manger: Mary’s courage, Joseph’s commitment to Mary, the awestruck obedience of shepherds, and the politically...