Ah yes, the old Christmas fight!  Great for my ulcers!!I know this will come as a shock to you, but in many situations, believe it or not, the best way to resolve a conflict is simply to overlook the personal offenses others bring your way. Does the Bible recommend this approach?  Indeed it does, quiteContinue reading "Big-time suggestion for your Christmas gatherings…"

No one talks about the incarnation as poignantly as one of my favorite writers Frederick Buechner.  Here he is in Whistling in the Dark (Harper San Francisco, 1993):"The Word became flesh.  Ultimate mystery born with a skull you could crush one-handed.  Incarnation.  It is not tame.  It is not touching.  It is not beautiful.  ItContinue reading "For us and for our salvation"

In this season of Advent, I am remembering today that Jesus was born ultimately to extend mercy to us and to the world.   And therefore today I have been praying throughout the day, "Lord, have mercy.  Christ, have mercy."As I slowly repeat this prayer, I have been surprised at the darkness my heart can carry. Continue reading "Praying this often during this second Monday of Advent…"

I couldn't agree more with the inimitable scholar Greg Boyd and his thoughts on the beauty and mystery of the incarnation... Jesus was God incarnate. Yet he continually referred to, and prayed to, God the Father as someoneHistory is crowded with men who would be God, but only one God would be man.who was distinctContinue reading "The most beautiful truth…during Advent"

In my column in the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette on Sunday December 7, I present the idea that both showing and giving empathy to others is the best gift you can give during this holiday season.

A central figure in the Christmas story is the Holy Spirit ...* He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filledContinue reading "Come Holy Spirit…"

French painter Luc Oliver Merson's 1879 painting “Rest on the Flight” is set in the austere desert near the Nile River that runs through Egypt.  Merson's imagination is pretty fantastic with the scene he paints here.  The more I look at it, the more the haunting painting pulls me in. Do you notice that Joseph's faceContinue reading "Resting on the flight to Egypt…"

I think we are wired to be empathic by our Creator.  That would be all humans, in my opinion.  It doesn't matter if they are male or female.  It matters little their religion or ethnicity.  All humans innately are wired to be empathetic. Clearly, socialization can and does change that. ...  "Men don't cry."  "BeContinue reading "We are all wired to be empathetic…"