The Christmas season is rich with stories of reindeer and misfit toys, of a well-meaning banker rescued by an angel looking to earn his wings, of friends praying for snow to save their hero from bankruptcy, of families looking for the best Christmas ever, and Santa trying to stay out of jail long enough to be able to do his Christmas run. I love all those stories, but of course the Gospel story su...  Read More

They say that three things in life are certain: death, taxes, and December performances of Handel’s Messiah. The last in that list is a Christmas addition to lighten the sentiment. But it also seems to be true. The world’s most famous oratorio appears every holiday season, with hundreds if not thousands of productions by professional and amateur groups around the world. Messiah has been going stro...  Read More

Advent is a time of waiting… We begin the season of Advent with those words. Waiting… The liturgy of our worship reminds us that we are waiting for the One who has come as a tiny babe to save the world and will come again in glory to redeem His creation. Thus, we know the right theological answer to the question, what are we waiting for? But… in reality, there seems to be a whole lot of other wait...  Read More

Last weekend, we traveled to Maine for a family wedding. (Many thanks to Carol Stern for preaching a thoughtful message about HOPE so that I could enjoy the family gathering.) One has to wonder about the wisdom of planning a wedding in Maine in December, when everyone will have to travel to be at the festivities. But Maine’s weather cooperated, providing an idyllic setting. Snow had fallen just da...  Read More

Pope Leo XIV, the first American Pope, spent Thanksgiving in Turkey. One might find some humor in that choice of location for his first papal trip and its name similarity to the traditional meat of the holiday. But he chose Turkey, not for some fun turn of phrase, but to join patriarchs from the Orthodox Church in Iznik, Turkey on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Together they commemorated the 1700t...  Read More

I don’t routinely read the New Yorker. But on Sunday a story from the New Yorker was featured on the news and it piqued my interest. The piece was written by Tatiana Schlossberg, daughter of Caroline Kenney Schlossberg, granddaughter of former President John F. Kennedy. Tatiana is the shy member of the Kennedy family who worked quietly behind the scenes. She is a science and climate reporter for t...  Read More