Two sisters, whom Jesus loves, send word and beg Him to hurry their way. Lazarus grows ill and soon may breathe his last. Despite the urgency, time still runs in its continual coursings. Swift, the sickness rushes in, so slow is the Lord of mercy. So things appear to this family, awash in their anxiety. […]
Bread of Life
March 22, 2023 by
Bread is a daily delight, a culinary pleasure awaiting each bite. A basic part of our everyday nourishment, its goodness fills our bellies and warms our hearts. Oven-fresh bread takes hold of our senses, capturing us and stirring our hunger. Toasted for breakfast, our mornings may, likewise, include flaky pastries. Bread lingers to bring joy […]
Ephesians 5:8-14: From Shadowed Unbelief into the Clarity of Truth
March 19, 2023 by
“What is truth?” someone scorned Jesus hours before His crucifixion. Our Lord recognized the Roman Governor came to “bear witness to the truth,” but further taught, “everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37-38). Pilate doesn’t care. Cynical and annoying, he ponders the possibility and power to unearth actual truthfulness in […]
Light Shining in the Darkness
March 19, 2023 by
God’s first creation is light. God spoke and light, at once, shone into the black empty void (Genesis 1:2). After, He separated the light from the darkness, marking days and creating time. After Adam’s fall, sin shattered this peace in a rebellion against God, who brought this world into existence. Bereft of sparkle and life, […]
Romans 5:1-8: Requiescat in Pace
March 12, 2023 by
The grass is soft and unstirring, a soundless bed of sorrowful green. Etched on headstones in this old cemetery is “RIP,” an homage to the Latin phrase, “requiescat in pace.” In English, we use matching initials, chiseled in stone, to express the same sentiment: “rest in peace.” Words we write, speaking of the dead, each […]
Water Gives Life
March 9, 2023 by
Water is vital to sustaining life, second only to the air we breathe. This vitality-giving liquid touches our lives daily, shaped by its temperature and our needs. Without its replenishment, our strength drains away. Soon, we fade and perish. Frozen and solid, we use ice cubes to chill our drinks. Above freezing, we find refreshment […]
Genesis 12:1-9: Our Hope is Abraham’s Hope
March 5, 2023 by
Father Abraham, we call him—but not so in the beginning. Long ago, God called a man, named at the time Abram, to trust beyond the stars. Beneath a starry sky and glimmering night, God proclaims several promises to this old citizen past his prime. In his closing years, Abraham is seventy-five, and Sarah is a […]
Salt
March 1, 2023 by
Based on Scripture, salt seasons and sweetens and preserves and keeps. Salt flavors food (Job 6:6) and prevents corruption (Leviticus 2:13, Ezekiel 43:24). Elisha once used salt to purify drinking water (2 Kings 2:19-23). Salt is no spice or mere flavoring but, in biblical wording, binds us together (Numbers 18:19), and speaks of hospitality, friendship, […]
Matthew 4:1-11: The Beasts Within
February 26, 2023 by
Lent calls us to face our unrevealed and underlying selves, to stare at the creatures we dread lurking inside us. The shadows of the season cloak us again in their solemn embrace. In our Lenten pilgrimage, we seek to expose our souls, perceiving the wild places within, sometimes unveiled only in those junctures when we […]
Dust and Ashes
February 26, 2023 by
Today, we embark on a humbling journey, a 40-day pilgrimage. A stark etching of ashes darkens the landscape of our skin, severe and cross-shaped. Those ashen smears tell a tale of tragedy. A burnt soot reminds us of life once lived, but now lost, affixed to our flesh in gloomy shades of charcoal black. Oh, […]
