Turning Jordan

For the past few Christmases I have posted a little note about the season, influenced by what I’ve learned over the last year. This year, I have spent a lot of time in the Psalter, a book which begins with a lot of complaining, but in the end calls us to a posture of praise. In a time of the year when we celebrate the birth of our King, we must come to terms with the fact that his birth meant the death of other children born around the same time he was, from the same town, with a life much like his own. His birth meant that everything was going to change. His birth meant that there would be change, but not right away – not soon enough for a lot of folks. Was it soon enough for those parents who had their little children murdered by Herod? Was it soon enough for the leprous who would die a few years before a grown Jesus would be able to heal them? When would the peace come? When would the “good will to all men” actually come?  Read more... (854 words, estimated 3:25 mins reading time)

This one’s from a little over a month ago, and I had posted it on Facebook. I thought I might post it here for more people to see – that is, if anyone really reads these

One of the neat things about having a specific time of year dedicated to certain important events in Jesus’ life means really thinking about that particular aspect of Jesus’ life every year. For most of us, that means Easter and Christmas, the birth and resurrection. For sure, many of us think of these weekly as we go to Church, or even daily if we are able. But, for a whole group of others, these are the only two times per year that they might even give Christianity any thought – that’s if they aren’t distracted by the spectacle we’ve made of the holidays.  Read more... (682 words, estimated 2:44 mins reading time)