Pick Up Your Cross – Mar. 3, 2023
“It took me quite awhile—years, actually—to realize that Jesus is not inviting me to be crucified. I’m just volunteering to pick up my cross and carry it. Maybe not with grace or even steadiness, moving ahead under its weight. And it’s my cross, not the cross Jesus was compelled to bear… I suspect that in […]
Take Off Your Shoes – Feb. 28, 2023
“Whenever I pass the majestic mosque in my city, I find myself wishing that we would emulate our Muslim neighbors who leave their shoes at the door. We can grow almost too comfortable and easy, almost casual in our relationship with the high-voltage God whom theologian Rudolf Otto termed “a tremendous and fascinating mystery.” But […]
Tone Matters
When I told a dear female friend of mine that I was writing a reflection on Luke 10:38,* she rolled her eyes. “You mean where he scolds Martha for doing housework?” she asked with a sigh. “C’mon, Jesus. Really?” I’d been turning the Luke passage over in my mind for a week now, looking up […]