Last week-end was Día de Muertos. I first encountered this Day of the Dead when we lived on the Mexican border, and later encountered it on a visit to Spain on this same November day. It is now practiced around the world in many cultures, often for a three-day holiday, October 31- November 2. On…
Lately, I’ve seen an interesting quote circulating. “If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, Thank you, that would suffice.” Is that true? How does one reconcile this idea of only saying thank you, with Jesus’ comment to Peter, “I have prayed for you” (Luke 22:32), Paul’s frequent reminder to those to…
Last week, on Canadian Thanksgiving, I wrote of my gratitude for former students who serve in Canada, in part because of my involvement in their lives and I said, “Sometimes one person’s passion enlightens another’s call.” Let me elaborate. In my pre-teens and early teen-age years I was a member of a very progressive church,…
On Thursday, January 31, 1957, the Parliament of Canada proclaimed: “A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed – to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October.” So, today is Canadian Thanksgiving. My sixth grade teacher assigned us a paragraph on what we wanted…
When the team wins, the players get the credit, when they lose, the coach gets fired. That’s the way it is in the sports world. Unfortunately, that attitude spills over into churches. I’ve known of far too many friends, former students, acquaintances, who were terminated (or sometimes, simply encouraged to leave), not because they misinterpreted…
The quote hung on my wall as a teen-ager. I would not know much about the author until Seminary days when his name was prominent on reading lists. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference,”…
Time passes slowly when you’re waiting on an airplane departure, especially when a mechanical issue has caused a four-hour delay. The airline kindly requested that we be seated and have patience. They did offer a meal voucher since they were keeping us past the noon hour, a welcome offer since I had arisen at 4:30am…
Surely some of you remember the children’s song we used to sing first thing in the mornings: “Good morning to you, Good morning to you, We’re all in our places With bright, shiny faces, Good morning to you.” I had no strong feelings either way about the song, but I remember wondering if my face…
He walks by my house every Saturday morning on his way to worship – black slacks, white shirt, black yamaka on his head, black walking cane. His faith prevents him from driving on the Sabbath, so he walks, with a slight limp, for 22 blocks (3 miles round trip). Rain or shine, hot or cold,…
In thirty-five years of teaching at the university and seminary level, I learned this – you can’t always tell when a student is learning, nor can you accurately predict their level of future achievement. Some of those I thought would surely fail now serve significant positions of leadership and ministry. Some I thought were “can’t…