(Jeremiah 2:4-13) In December 2021, a jury in Chicago found actor Jussie Smollett, a one-time star in the TV hip-hop drama Empire, guilty of five of six felony disorderly conduct charges in connection with an incident the previous year. Smollett claimed at the time that two masked men assaulted him, put a noose around his…
(Psalm 71:1-6) A Methodist pastor named Harley Camden took an evening walk along the bank of the Occoquan River. The sun had set, but there was still enough light to illuminate the charcoal gray outcroppings of rock that rose up from the edge of the river. Harley knew that these Virginia rocks were old, formed…
(Hebrews 11:29–12:2) July 1976 felt like a momentous time for the people of the United States. That month, we celebrated the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution it inspired. Amidst all the patriotic hoopla – the bicentennial parades and fireworks and tall ships – another revolution was taking place. That…
(Isaiah 1:1, 10-20) Have you noticed that laundry detergent technology continues to change? A hundred years ago, the charlady had a tub, washboard and bar of soap (which she might have made herself). The mechanization of laundry advanced quickly. Kids in the 1940s and 1950s might remember helping their moms with the laundry by feeding…
(Psalm 52) There are many organs in the human body – heart, lungs, stomach, liver, kidneys and so many more. All are marvelous in their own way. One organ, though, is distinctly underrated: the tongue. Just think of what the tongue can do. It’s more flexible than any other part of the body. It can…
(Colossians 1:1-14) “It was getting hotter.” That’s what Frank May noticed at sunrise, as he looked out the window of his apartment in India. Taking a deep breath, he felt like he was in a sauna. “He was thirsty and the jug by his bedside was empty. All over town the stressed hum of window-box…
(2 Kings 5:1-14) If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. Or, for those of us who listen to classical music: If it’s not Baroque, don’t fix it. We’re familiar with this time-tested adage, but why does it ring true? Because we know that when something really is broken, it can be difficult to get it…
(Luke 9:51-62) People are not very good at predicting the future. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit the United States in March 2020, many of us thought we’d be home for a few weeks. The virus would pass through the country, and then we’d all be back to school, work and church. We thought we’d surely…
(Genesis 22:1-15, Leviticus 20:1-5) There are many strange stories about fathers and their children in the Bible, but none stranger than the one we consider today, in which the esteemed “father of faith” has every intention of killing his own son. Does our religion teach people to sacrifice their children to God? The Swiss psychoanalyst…
