Discernment is a twenty-five-cent word that implies a process that tries to determine God's preference regarding a particular situation in the pursuit of better decisions. In our tradition, discernment involves phrases like prayerful consideration and the Holy...
Cyndi and I are dealing with a rather large infestation of poison ivy. Both of us are allergic and risk serious side effects if we allow one of the plants to come in contact with our skin. However, we hope to put a fence through the middle of a large patch. My...
In this week's chapters of The Shepherd's Wife, Pheodora learns from her brother James that her husband is in prison. Last week we learned that Chiram was stopped by a tax collector and borrowed the one denarius assessed. On his way to Caesarea to purchase goats,...
Being your own health advocate is fast becoming a necessity. People often report healthcare professionals not taking their concerns seriously enough, or even dismissing them outright. However, by advocating for your own health, you can take responsibility for your...
Pheodora wondered if God saw her as "one grain of sand on a vast shore, one point of light in an endless constellation?" After all, God was very busy watching over her nation, and that alone must be a big enough worry. Her country lost its independence long before she...
Every nation's history includes stories about how it first emerged to claim its identity as sovereign. And like all recorded history, what gets passed on skims over bits and pieces of the story. In particular, we generally prefer the version that makes us proud of the...
"Don't shoot the messenger," she said, noticing the look of pain on the faces of those let down by her news. No one I know wants to deliver bad news. The Prophet Isaiah seemed to understand this human reality when he said, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the...
"Well, I guess it's over!" the man said, exasperated and out of breath. "But there's still time on the clock. We can't give up now!" she responded with winded enthusiasm. That's the problem with time. It has limits. When I think about it, it is consistent with almost...
Greta Thunberg recently held her last protest as a high school student. Starting in 2018, each Friday the teen would skip school to raise awareness that our climate is changing due to human exploitation of the earth’s resources. Greta’s Friday protests were replayed...
"You remind me of Eeyore!" she said. Wow! That left a mark. I don't think of myself as a negative person. Quite the opposite. I'm usually overly optimistic about too many things. But she had a point. Lately, I was complaining a lot. The Editorial Staff of WebMD posted...