How can I connect with a Creator I cannot see?

We connect everyday with things we don’t see, many of them in an old, familiar way. What does this for you? For me it is my dad’s old sweatshirt. Turned inside out, it was my favorite outfit as a kid. Even in the coldest weather, I could put it on over whatever else I was […]

What do you want me to do for you?

There was a blind beggar sitting by the roadside, or so the story goes, when Jesus and his disciples were passing by on their way out of Jericho. Of course, the blind man did not know who was passing by, only that there was a commotion. But when he heard that the stir was about […]

What gets your attention?

We all notice, don’t we? The thing that wasn’t there before. The thing that isn’t but was. The thing that’s different from one image to the next. Heck, that’s a puzzle I loved to do as a kid! Find all 10! Yes, if we’re paying even the slightest attention, we notice when something has changed, […]

Is God Good All the Time?

“God is good …All the time!And all the time …God is Good!” Ah, the call and response of a faithful people. We like knowing how to respond. But do we believe it? Is God really good all the time? for the parent who’s just lost a child? for the man who’s just received a dire diagnosis? […]

What did God mean when He spoke me?

What right have I to be here on this earth? Here, taking up space, demanding time, using resources. What right have I to demand that things be done my way? according to my plan, within my specifications, according to my schedule. I have no right to these. Not any claim on these. Any more than […]

Did the Resurrection really happen?

Does it matter if the Resurrection actually happened? This was the question we considered in my adult Sunday School class at a church I used to belong to. I was a regular at Sunday school, where we considered issues of faith and its practice as a matter of course. Sunday school was organized and led […]

How Could Someone DO Something Like That?

How could someone DO something like that? This is what we ask ourselves when events like the recent crash of the German passenger plane happen. Or bombings at a marathon finish line. Or shootings at numerous schools. Or museums. Or places of worship. We are faulty, we humans. But are we at fault? Can we […]

Does Everything Really Happen for a Reason?

“Everything happens for a reason.” I hear that a lot these days, usually after someone hasn’t done enough to prevent or keep something from happening. It helps us feel better about ourselves and more confident in the “forces of the universe” to think that somehow, they have got this. They ordained this. Nothing I could […]

The One Question God will always answer

“If you could ask God one question, what would it be?” That was the bumper sticker on the car next to me. Oh my God. There are so many things that need answers. Why do you allow suffering? Why, death? Why, child abuse? Why, domestic violence and kidnapping and racial strife and executions? Why, pain […]

What’s hiding behind our platitudes?

I really despise platitudes. They’re good for nothing. Really, they’re dismissals. Things “we can all agree on” so we can take our attention away from where we don’t agree. I see their usefulness. I just don’t like them. Don’t get me wrong. Most platitudes are nice expressions. Good things. In fact, they’re good by nature. […]