“When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve.” (Mt 26.20) If you would like to listen to an audio version of the text, please click on the arrow above. When the day came when it was time for the older couple to downsize, give away, or throw away the things they had… Continue reading At Table

If you prefer to listen to an audio version of this text, please click the arrow above. “Those who had arrested Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. Peter was following him at a distance as far as the high priest’s courtyard, and going inside… Continue reading From Afar

“So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’” (John 11.38) You may click the arrow above to hear an audio version of the text. You don’t have to be dead to be in a tomb. While we think of… Continue reading “Take Away the Stone”

“They said to him, ‘How were your eyes opened?’ He replied, ‘The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and told me, “Go to Siloam and wash.” So I went there and washed and was able to see.’” (John 9.10-11) Some years ago, a team of neuroscientists conducted an experiment, wanting to understand… Continue reading “Now I Can See”

“Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (John 4.6-7) "I am haunted by waters.” When the writer Norman Mcclean first wrote those words in his epic book… Continue reading Jacob’s Well

“And he was transfigured before them . . . Then from the cloud came a voice that said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.'” (Matthew 17.2,5) Sometimes the smallest stories have the biggest truths, as we see again in this story. One day two caterpillars were crawling across the grass… Continue reading Becoming A Butterfly

“At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.” (Matthew 4.1) The desert inhabitant Michael Branch often writes about his home in the western Great Basin Desert, “a stark and extreme landscape,” he says, “one that shows no concern for our flourishing or even our survival.”… Continue reading Get Real

“For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same?” (Matthew 5.48) He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. And then he… Continue reading The Road Less Traveled

“Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5.20) When asked why he joined the Marines, a young man, who had left behind the comforts of family and farm, explained his reasons in this way. “I wanted to be tested,” he said. “All my… Continue reading Great Expectations

“If salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?” It is no longer good for anything.” (Matthew 5.13) Sharing stories of her growing-up years, my mother often spoke of the brine barrel in the cellar of the old farmhouse. Since I was unfamiliar with such a thing, she had to explain its function,… Continue reading Become Something More