Archive for November 2018
Reign of Christ Sunday
Yesterday millions of Christians celebrated “Reign of Christ Sunday,” the last Sunday of the Christian worship Year. At first blush, it’s odd to have one Sunday named that, since the Reign, or Kingdom, of God is a big deal in Christian faith. But it turns out that it came about in 1920s Italy, as the…
Read MoreGiving Thanks for Messy Relationships
Thanksgiving was a big deal in my growing-up family, since we’re Mayflower descendants. So Mom would pull out all the stops, and we kids helped in the preparations, as well. But no matter how people approach Thanksgiving, getting ready for that holiday can involve some special recipes or once-a-year dishes we save for that one…
Read MoreGrieve, Hope, Respond
St. Paul once wrote that we grieve, but not as those who have no hope (1 Thess. 4:13). I saw that personally once, when I attended the funeral of a man who was the patriarch of his Hmong clan, some of whom were members of the congregation I served. The family had decided to have…
Read More“Teach Your Parents Well”
I remember the good-natured difference of opinion my dad and I had in my teen years about “nature versus nurture.” He would say that a person’s good traits were “in your genes,” and I would say, “It’s how you are raised.” – But when it comes to generosity, scientific studies have increasingly found that it’s…
Read MoreSaints and the Search for Moral Presence
Today is All Saints Day, so it’s appropriate to think about the saints in our lives and world. These days, every day seems to be the opposite of saintly: national brink-of-war tactics, political partisan diatribes, hate crimes, and horrendous violence. So maybe All Saints Day is really important right now, whether we ascribe to official…
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