Let’s play word association. I say “St Patrick” and you might say “March 17,” “shamrock” (three leaf clovers), “Ireland,” “leprechaun,” or “green beverages.” To be cute, you might even answer with an Irish brogue. Just like Christmas and Easter, St. Patrick’s Day is a celebration of religious origin, of which the original meaning has been […]
Remember to Celebrate Jesus’s Birthday As You Give and Receive Presents From my family to yours, we wish you a safe and happy Christmas as you celebrate Jesus’s birthday. As you spend this season with family and friends, may your celebrations be joyous and your time together be uplifting. May you receive the gifts given […]
We Should Continue to Remember the Poor The Bible talks about the poor and teaches how to deal with poverty. Poverty shows up 21 times in the Bible, most in the practical advice-giving book of Proverbs. The word poor appears much more often at 176 times. Combined, these passages give us much insight in how […]
If Our Beliefs Are Important to Us, We’ll Make Them Part of Every Aspect of Our Life Have you ever met someone out of your normal context and were surprised at what you saw or heard? This is a person who compartmentalizes their faith. They have a work persona, a leisure-time persona, and a family […]
Celebrating the Spirituality of Everyday Life Are You a Spiritual Person? What parts of your life are spiritual? Sorry. Trick question. All parts of our lives are spiritual. Seriously. It’s just that most people don’t know it. Most people think of church as a spiritual activity and everything else is not, as in secular. They […]
Pray for Family and Friends Ever since our daughter was born, I knew I should pray for her, as well as for her brother, when he came along. I did pray for them—when I thought of it—which wasn’t very often. I felt guilty for not doing what I knew I should do. And when I […]
I remember years ago after I prepared my house to be painted. One of the tasks was to remove the street numbers from the house, allowing for both home and numbers to be easily painted. The street numbers were above the garage door and easily viewable from the street. They weren’t always there, however. Initially, they were […]
Twelve years ago, I made an effort to cancel the delivery of a free weekly newspaper that I have been receiving for years—and never read. It turned out to be an easy thing to do and they happily took my cancellation. The delivery of that paper immediately stopped—until I installed my new mailbox! I understood […]
Candy and I have two children; she reminds me that she always wanted four. Years ago, her wish had come true. No, we were not expecting—get that thought out of your mind right now. And we were not adopting, either. We were doing this the easy way: our kids were getting married! Laura and Chris […]
Like other holidays with historical religious meaning, Easter has been significantly skewed by both custom and commercialization. Over time, the risen savior has been superseded by bunnies and eggs (reportedly symbols of fertility). Notwithstanding, Easter egg hunts and chocolate candies of all variations are delightful traditions—as long as the true focus of Easter is retained. […]