Those Who Shape Our Lives

Hands and baby feet Bonnie Kittle Unsplash

Leslie Weatherhead, Inviting Christian Agnostics

By Betsy Schwarzentraub | April 21, 2025

Leslie Weatherhead, whose birthday is Oct. 14th, is another unofficial saint of mine. An English theologian in the liberal Protestant tradition, he was right up my alley.His book The Will of God changed my understanding of how God allows free will and works with us when we choose wrong. “God’s circumstantial will” can work with…

Flesh and Blood Saints

By Betsy Schwarzentraub | March 13, 2025

“Saints” are not bloodless figures in stained glass windows. They’re real people in the past or present who have encouraged our personal faith. This weekend Christians are celebrating the saints in our lives. November first is “All Saints Day” for Protestants and November second  “All Souls Day” for Roman Catholics: days to thank God for…

Author Madeleine L’Engle

By Betsy Schwarzentraub | February 3, 2025

Author Madeleine L’Engle’s birthday is Nov. 29th. She was a vibrant writer and a strong person of faith, seen in both her fiction and nonfiction. A Wrinkle in Time and the rest of her science fiction books affirm children, their willingness to care, learn, and risk their lives for one another. Her nonfiction gives even…

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

By Betsy Schwarzentraub | January 12, 2025

“Radical amazement”—Rabbi Abraham Heschel may have coined that term. January first is his birthday. He was an incredible Bible scholar and theologian whom I first met through my seminary studies. Here’s his basic response to life and to God: Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement… Get up in the morning and…