Our language reflects dominant issues in culture. I don’t know when it began but we hear a new word a lot these days: woke. I have to keep looking up the meaning: an adjective derived from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) meaning “alert to racial prejudice...

George Bernard Shaw once wrote: “I am by nature and destiny a preacher, but I have no Bible, no creed. The preacher must preach the way of life...Oh, if I could only find it!” The Apostle Paul had found it — and he preached it. In two succinct verses, he underscores...

We are in what the Christian calendar calls Advent. In a recent blog, I mentioned the Christian worship practice of lighting a candle each Sunday of Advent each signifying the four traditional Advent themes: Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy.  Last week I reflected on peace;...

One of the leading story on the front page of the newspaper, The Commercial Appeal,  was about a famous dog, Riona.  Riona was rescued after being set on fire by her owner. Six months after her recovery she made her first public appearance. For the past few months she...

In my blog last week I talked about what the Church calls a “liturgical” calendar which guides the Church in celebrating the “Christian” year. The first “season” of that year is Advent. We began that season on Sunday, November 27. There are four Sundays in Advent. In...

The Church has what is called a “liturgical” calendar which guides the Church is celebrating what we call the “Christian” year. The first “season” of that year is Advent. We began that season this Sunday, November 27. Do you note that this season comes at the end of...

The observance of Thanksgiving is almost as old as our nation. President George Washington issued a proclamation for “a day of public thanksgiving and prayer. ”On October 3, 1789, President Abraham Lincoln built on that and established “a Day of Thanksgiving and...