Bewilderment
We enter this week before Christmas telling the story, beginning with these simple words: This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.* I am struck by how ordinary (i.e., messy) is the start of the life of a Messiah. Messy in that it is not what we expect, not all that tidy and neat, and […]
What Did I Expect?
When I agreed to follow Jesus, I had no idea what I was getting into. I was forty years old, and had spent most of my life alternately yearning for and avoiding a deeper relationship with God. When I was in my early teens, I went to a Jewish summer camp in the San Bernardino […]
Clothed in Humility
I’ve always loved John the Baptist, the lonely wanderer, the poetic beauty of being “the voice of one crying out in the wilderness.” But I confess, this year I read about John and thought he was a bit of a weirdo. Walking around shouting at people, wearing rough clothes, scavenging for his food– John’s behavior […]
Waiting: The Seedbed of Hope
Everywhere I go, people are busy with their cell phones: scrolling through emails, muttering messages, playing games or watching some video snippet. Filling time with our cell phones is now possible, and so we do it because others are doing it. On the Metro, in line at the grocery store, or sitting in a doctor’s […]
