If you tell the story of King David, Israel’s most celebrated ruler, and if you describe his ancestry, you have to include a foreign woman, a Moabite named Ruth. Through her...

At first glance, Naomi’s suggestions to Ruth seem a bit dar­ing, even dangerous. But nothing in the text detracts from a genuine concern for her loyal and com­pas­sionate Moabite daughter-in-law who,...

Even though this passage was easy to memorize as a child, it confounded me. How could I love God when I couldn’t see, hear, or touch God? Years later as a...

Martin Buber, an early twentieth-century Jewish theologian, dedicated his life to understanding relationships. He saw two distinct types—experiences (I-It) and encounters (I-Thou). In I-It relationships we treat people as objects. In...

Growing up, I tried to be a good Christian so that I could squeak by in life unscathed by pain and sorrow. The formula went something like this: Be good, follow...

I  have sat by the bedsides of many people as they took their final breath. Some of those deaths were slow and agonizing; others were peaceful transitions. All were sacred moments...

Sometimes it is hard to sing praises. Whether I am checking my Facebook feed or listening to the latest news, my automatic response these days is more likely to be sadness,...

I  have a friend who did the unthinkable. Twenty years ago she and her husband were pastors in a highly successful, growing church when they discerned a call to leave everything...

I  live in a tranquil community with walking trails, bike lanes, and beaver ponds. But when I look out my window I see pain in my neighborhood: One couple is ending...

When the crowd calls Bartimaeus to Jesus, the beggar throws off his cloak and leaps up. He leaves behind what is probably his only possession, his means of protection and livelihood—the...