Who knew that Jesus’ feel-good story about the good Samaritan would wreck me? In a recent video, Bishop T.D. Jakes reminded me to look more closely at the story. He said that we focus so much on the good Samaritan that we look past the other two men. Do you recall the story? A …
At Noon last Friday, I broke into sobs. Deep, heaving, uncontrollable sobs. I’d read the story of how a 28-year old man took a camera, took a gun and then took the lives of 50 people in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. I’d watched interviews with survivors and a searching mom in shock, …
“I don’t believe something just because it’s written in an old book.” The conversation a few yards away had pulled my mind from antiques and collectibles at the estate sale. Overheard words exchanged between pondering customer and confident sales assistant touched on heaven and forgiveness and death. One voice was musing out loud, …
Forty years ago, this month, I had a delicious meal of beef sirloin with champignon sauce, green beans amandine, a baked potato and chocolate cream pie. It was the menu for our Junior Senior Banquet, a fact I discovered searching random high school stuff. It got me thinking about food. I estimate I’ve eaten …
[I dedicate this blog to Memaw—my dear mother-in-law—who died 366 days ago and who would have celebrated her 94th birthday today.] Memaw entered heaven. Others won’t. Why not? Simple. They don’t want to. So why does that idea sound so odd? Because it does not square with a narrative of heaven …
Tired walkers, street vendors, goats, and uneven concrete flashed outside the windows of our taxi as it darted and bounced through the streets of Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa. As the driver slowed to find the exact address of the orphanage, I wondered what to expect. What would children, robbed by AIDS of their …
So, when a man who’s spent his share of time in homeless camps breathes his last, where do you have the memorial service? At the local soup kitchen he loved, of course. That is how I ended up on a Sunday afternoon at the Rose of Sharon soup kitchen/thrift store, celebrating the life and …