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

I have a recurring nightmare.  It is Sunday morning, and I am scheduled to preach.  But something goes horribly wrong.  I discover I have slept through my alarm and missed the service.  Or I dream that I can’t find the church (odd, since I have driven to Knox more than 4000 times).  Other nights, I… Read More

I love a good proverb. At its best, it provides a succinct, memorable nugget of wisdom to guide you through life’s complexities. The twelve-step movement has long recognized the value of the proverb and champions a host of great sayings for those in recovery. “Let go and let God.” “This too shall pass.” “It’s about… Read More

Earlier this month, I spent a week at Saint Andrew’s Abbey.  Located in the high desert of Valyermo, this community of seventeen Benedictine monks welcomes individuals and groups to take retreats with them.  Visitors stay in one of the Abbey’s guest rooms and can join the monks for daily meals and prayer.   I try… Read More

Earlier this month, the United States Surgeon General called for immediate action to address a public health epidemic. The problem Dr. Vivek Murthy named was not a new virus like COVID-19, nor was it a medical condition like cancer. It was a social condition with devastating consequences on the country’s mental, physical, and emotional life.… Read More

The 40 days of Lent are desert times.  The season, which extends from February 22nd to April 8th this year, reminds us of the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the Judean wilderness (Matthew 4:1-2).  It recalls the 40 years that the children of ancient Israel traveled through the Sinai desert (Numbers 14:33).  Lent is… Read More

Questions of identity get at the heart of the Christian life.  I had a spiritual director out in Connecticut who was fond of saying that the core spiritual question is, ‘Who am I?’  I originally met with this director not to talk about myself, but to talk about God.   I had read Richard Foster’s A… Read More

Night grows long this time of year. Back on June 21st, the summer solstice, daylight stretched more than four hours longer each day than it will through this month of December. I often wonder how people living much further from the equator than us manage through the long, dark days of winter. In Barrow, the… Read More