“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

“For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples.” (Luke 2.30-31) Somewhere there is a story about a young boy who went on a camping trip with his dad to the Adirondacks Mountains in New York. For a good part of the excursion, they decided to hire… Continue reading Seek the Good

“He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.” (Matthew 4.13) A favorite gospel song of small children, learned in Sunday school or in Bible camps or at home, is “This Little Light of Mine.” Written sometime in the 1920's, the simple stanzas, filled with… Continue reading “And the Light Was Good”

“The reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.” (John 1.31) Back in the day, when settlers moved to the Great Plains to start a new life, they were allowed by the Homestead Act of 1862 to claim 160 acres of land as their own, so long… Continue reading Not Complicated Stuff

“And a voice came from the heavens, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’” (Matthew 3.17) Fifty years ago, the gifted writer Chaim Potok wrote a book called, “The Promise,” a story that revolves around several young Jewish people, each of whom must make a choice about the direction he… Continue reading A Promise

"When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem." (Matthew 2.1) In the book he wrote, former President Jimmy Carter tells a story about his mother, Lillian Carter, more affectionately dubbed “Miss Lillian” by the press during his presidency. It was Inauguration… Continue reading The Grand Reversal