Israel was between a rock and a hard place. Literally. There they were, camped on the plains of Moab. With solid cliffs behind them and the River Jordan and Jericho ahead, barring their way into Canaan. They were also caught between the “rock” of their sin and the hard job of conquering the land God […]

Our house was broken into by thieves. Their target was our copper pipes, but they also nabbed a brass mallard, some sweet little Nikon binoculars, and a blanket of which I was inordinately fond. It could have been worse. They could have taken much more, and trashed the place, but they did not. This comes […]

  He did it twice. Fed thousands of hungry people with a few loaves, that is. Twice and still the disciples didn’t get it.   Comparing the two incidents when Jesus feeds the multitudes in the Gospel of Mark, here’s what I see: Mark 6 (the first time): Jesus calls the disciples away to rest. […]

Ever since Advent began, I’ve been praying: Come, Lord Jesus! And come he did, in a whirl of stars and shepherds and “Joy to the World” sung into the night. But Christmas came and went, and although the baby Jesus took his place in the manger in our nativity set, I didn’t feel like Jesus […]

You can’t blame them, really. The men who raced toward the Temple were only following instructions. Just moments before, they were lepers: living on the fringes of society, forced to keep a distance from other people, shouting “unclean, unclean!” to everyone they saw. But now—they are healed! It was all due to Jesus, the rabbi […]