The image of God as refuge is powerful. At its core, a refuge is any space that provides safety and shelter from danger or chaos. But as followers of Christ, we...

For those in healthy marriages or with material “creature” comforts, this passage can seem harsh or unwieldy. Why would Paul disregard the importance of a healthy relationship or the opportunity to...

James and John quickly leave their father with the nets and the boat; scripture offers no commentary on their father’s feelings. Mark’s sense of urgency in moving the story forward doesn’t...

Mark’s account of Jesus’ life is one of the more dramatic Gospels. In some scripture versions, Mark uses the word immediately about forty times throughout the Gospel. When John the Baptist...

As an act of grace, the story continues with God’s word coming to Jonah a second time. God’s response not only frees Jonah from his predicament but reminds Jonah who he...

The psalm moves from placing full trust in God to a painful acknowledgment of our own human frailty. Whether rich or poor, powerful or disempowered, “human beings are nothing but a...

For God alone my soul waits in silence.” The psalmist offers healing for the world-weary soul. In the midst of an uncertain and violent world—if we are still, we may hear...

Philip has heard Jesus’ call to “follow me” and witnesses to Nathanael. Philip does not find Nathanael’s dismissive com-ment about Nazareth off-putting. Instead, he invites Nathanael to “come and see.” Philip...

Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael gives voice to his prejudice, a prejudice that could have closed down a fruitful avenue in his future. How often have we allowed...

What connects the body with the spirit? What happens when we drive a wedge into life between the sacred and the secular, between the spiritual and the material? Paul discovers that...