"Would you like to redo this assignment?" my math professor asked me as he handed back the work that I had turned in to him the previous day. There was no grade at the top of the paper. He smiled kindly at me. "Just review your work." … Read more

Joe slumped to the floor, the life choked out of him, a victim of a terrible game young people play called the Choking Game or Blackout Challenge. The act of intentionally cutting off the source of oxygen to the brain to induce a temporary … Read more

Spider webs festoon the front of my house, draping themselves over the porch railing, making airy paths between the house and the porch roof, even arching across from the porch to the patio furniture. No, it's not a haunted house — it's … Read more

The aroma of horse hair overwhelmed me as I buried my face in Princess's mane. She grasped my ponytail scrunchie with her muzzle, slid it off, and waved it triumphantly. If a horse could laugh, she was doing it. This was a deliberate move … Read more

I am now on the other side of the communion table. What I see and hear are different from presiding at the table. Instead of an assemblage of heads, I see a cup and a loaf of bread. Instead of the memorized ritual of holy communion, I … Read more

Like most folks, I try not to let things distress or disturb me, but when they do, my prayers are peppered with worries and anxieties, which make it difficult to focus on my problem or really ask God for help. As a pastor, I should know … Read more

Do you believe in miracles? When you awoke this morning, did you consciously realize that you were breathing and your heart was beating? Our blood circulates; we blink and swallow instinctively; our hair and nails grow. We're alive! It's … Read more

Perhaps you have heard the story of the person hanging from a cliff waiting to be rescued. He has a vision of God's hand reaching down from heaven and lifting him to safety. So, when a helicopter appears, he sends it away. After he falls … Read more

This is a wise question — especially in view of today's wastefulness. Questioning needless waste is reasonable! But apparently, it wasn't one day when at a dinner party a woman poured an entire pint of perfume on Jesus. It was worth a … Read more

Several years ago, I found myself in Jerusalem in the most beautiful, fragrant garden I'd ever seen. Our guide claimed that it was where Jesus had spent His last free hours in prayer, and where the chosen disciple, Judas, had betrayed the … Read more