Halloween…a celebration of imagination and community… a moment when we teach our children to beg for sweets… or an ancient pagan ritual?  Perhaps Halloween is all the above.  In 2021, Americans spent over 10 billion dollars on their Halloween celebrations, marking October 31st as one of the most celebrated holidays in our country.  But most Americans have no idea what the roots of this celebration...  Read More

I am writing today in solidarity with sad Eagles’ fans.  Yet again, this season seems to be a rather disappointing one for the Philadelphia Eagles… and we are not even half-way through.  But today, I am not grieving the win-loss ratio, though that is worth grieving!  Today, I am saddened by the loss of Zach Ertz.  Since 2013 he has been part of our Eagles’ family, playing tight end with a series o...  Read More

I grew up on Bible stories… My mom didn’t just read the stories, she brought them to life.  As mom told stories, we could imagine David on the field of battle against the giant Goliath, a very pregnant Mary sitting on a donkey, and Jesus washing the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper.  When she told the story of Noah and the Ark, we could practically hear the sounds of the animals and the cr...  Read More

I do a lot of writing in my work… a Sunday sermon, a Wednesday message, Bible Studies, letters, Funeral messages (far too many of these of late!), and my Tuesday letter that I am working on right now.  I used to write in my office, but I learned quickly how hard that is to do.  Imagine having a rambunctious class of 3-year-olds on one side, a class of crying 2-year-olds on another, and children wa...  Read More

I read two interesting articles this week… one about Greg Epstein- the new Chief of Chaplains at Harvard University and the other about a German biblical theologian- Ernst Lohmeyer, who died at the hands of the East German communist government.  At first glance, these two articles do not seem to have any connection to one another.  Yet, God has a way of showing the intersection of thought that can...  Read More

The front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer on Thursday, September 23rd featured an article entitled, Beach and Moan. The writer, Amy Rosenberg, spent a page and a half complaining about complainers. She wrote, “It was a perfectly nice summer down at the Shore. Why did people spend so much time complaining?” This summer, the weather was great, masks were off, restaurants and stores were fully open...  Read More