Transported in Time
Do we remain ourselves as the years, like waves, lap up on the shore or do we become different people over the course of a decade, half a century, a century? A couple of recent family get-togethers have pulled me…
A Little Mayhem Might Do You Good
You might not think that “wanton destruction” or “a state of violent disorder or riotous confusion” would have any place in a clergyman’s home. Think again, dear reader. It’s after Easter now, in a college town known for plenty of…
Rising Again
“Just think of it as one service that spreads out over three days,” Rob said to me, trying to be helpful. I was asking him to explain the different services of Holy Week for the umpteenth time. Certain things don’t…
Seating Plan Required
Before unleashing one of his sermons at church, my husband is likely to gaze out into the congregation and notice that people are in their usual pews. Of course there are slight variations from Sunday to Sunday, and often one…
Nature and Us: The Mid-March View
This weirdly warm March has brought out mixed reactions: some people don’t mind a bit that there’s been very little winter to speak of and are ready to garden; others (I’m in this group) feel there’s something kind of eerie…
The Bible and Beyond: Reading Religiously
He no doubt meant it as a compliment, but when Rick Santorum referred to his wife Karen as “the rock which I stand upon” (The New York Times, 2/4/2012), apparently crediting her for the solidity of his religious faith, I…
Entering into Lent, Essentially
With days filled with lists of things to do and struggles for achievements of one kind or another, how are we to know what is “essential” and what “inessential”? This time of Lent, which began last week with Ash Wednesday,…
Singing in Church
In our house, there’s agreement that Whitney Houston’s best song was definitely not either “I Will Always Love You” or “Greatest Love of All.” Both of these, we think, suffer from weightiness; even as they do showcase the sheer power…
The Seam That Joins Us
We have just received our new “Friends” membership packet to the Emily Dickinson Museum, a place my husband and I like to support for many reasons. Since I have been thinking a great deal about friendship recently, the mailing is…
Football is Definitely a Collision Sport
Let’s get the part of this post that is about Tim Tebow out of the way first. Here’s a paragraph from an article in The New York Times that appeared back in the fall: At the intersection of faith and…