Soon after the Eaton fire, Jill and I visited the ruins of our former neighborhood.  Jill directed my eye to one prominent object still standing upright amid all the destruction.  It was a sculpture by our neighbor, the artist Christopher “Kit” Davis.  Every house surrounding it had been reduced to ash.  How striking it was… Read More

According to the latest numbers from LA County, the combined Eaton and Palisades fires destroyed more than 16,000 structures. One of them was a Tudor-style house at the end of Norwic Place in Altadena. Since 2011, Jill, Lucy, and I had called that house our home. On January 8th, 2025, it burned to the ground.… Read More

At the age of 35, Kate Bowler was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer.  The doctors told her that she likely had only two years left to live.  It was 2015, and Bowler was working at the time as a professor of Christianity at Duke University.  She had a husband and baby son.  And she… Read More

A small group of us performed an a cappella song at Knox back in 2008. The chorus began with the words, “I’m working on a building.”  And the song ended with this line: “It’s a Holy Ghost building for my Lord, for my Lord.”  Over the years of ministry that have followed – all sixteen… Read More

Now that Covid restrictions have eased, there are so many ways to connect with people.  You can go to a sporting event and cheer on the local team.  You can play a sport yourself – like doubles pickle-ball at Farnsworth Park.  Alumni gatherings may beckon, as may events put on by your children’s school.   You… Read More

The brick in front of me was 4,475 years old.  Jill, Lucy, and I were at the Louvre Museum in Paris this past May.  And before heading to see Leanardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, I went to check out an exhibit on ancient Mesopotamian artifacts.  On a placard next to the glass case was a… Read More

It was Rex McDaniel, the former pastor of Calvary Presbyterian Church in South Pasadena, who first turned me on to podcasts.  He recommended I check out The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish.  One episode turned into ten, and soon I was listening to Parrish’s show regularly.  Not long after the Knox Men’s book group had… Read More

For more than 1600 years, Christians have marked the week leading up to Easter as “Holy Week.”   A woman named Egeria wrote of her travels to Jerusalem in the early 380’s and described in detail how Christians celebrated the final days before Easter.  The week traditionally begins on Palm Sunday, as churches recall our Lord’s… Read More

It is an age-old question: Which came first, beliefs or practices?  Do our values lead to our behavior, or does our behavior shape our values?  It is a lot like the question: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? It is a trick question – one with no right answer.  It places two elements… Read More