I’ve never cared that much about heaven. I don’t follow Jesus in order to guarantee my reservation for the hereafter. I’m not faithful so that when I die I’ll go to...

I sing your praises before all other gods” sounds quaint to the modern reader, like something a tunic-wearing, harp-strumming psalmist sitting on a mountain gazing down at the temple in Jerusalem might...

I was tired. Tired of the apathy an affluent community felt for religion. Tired of cajoling people with packed schedules to make room for worship. Tired of begging people to give a...

Living is vulnerable business. We want to know if we are doing it right. Is that why “fitting in” has such a powerful pull on us? We steal glances to see...

The fight over keeping the United States flag in the church’s sanctuary had been bitter. It was bitter enough that it came up in conversation several years later when I first...

When I was in my midthirties, I took a sabbatical year and volunteered for an organization called International Child Care in Santiago, Dominican Republic. My coworkers and neighbors there expressed surprise...

A friend of mine and I are going skydiving to celebrate our birthdays—his fiftieth and my forty-ninth. We will put on parachutes, be strapped to an experienced diver, get on an...

Psalm 139 can trigger contradictory feelings depending on mood, atmosphere, and circumstances. A God of constant surveillance can be unnerving, especially since we all have moments when we’re not proud of...

That the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh.” That’s very aspirational and not easy. Tougher than seeing the face of Christ in everyone we meet. Jesus...

When we read of Jesus’ face-offs with religious authorities, our attitude toward the Pharisees can easily move from indignation to righteous indignation to self-righteous indignation. Let’s take a breath. Veneration of...