Month: March 2016

Some people never think about death. Some of us never stop thinking about it. A lot depends on your age, what you’ve been through or your disposition. I don’t mean to steal your Easter joy – but you do know you’re going to die one day. When life unfolds on the schedule we’ve come to expect, we get eased into accepting the inevitability of our last breath. First, friends of your grandparents pass away. People you’ve heard stories about but never met. You may know their names but you’re not really connected to them, so when they pass, it’s almost … Read more…

This week’s post invites reflection on the time Jesus raised a widow’s son from the dead. I’d recommend you read Luke 7:11 – 17, to refresh your memory of the story. As we eagerly approach the Easter celebration of His resurrection, it is good to recall that before the tomb was found empty, the cross was occupied; that while we look back to the cross with gratitude, Jesus looked ahead with grim resolve. ~ A long time before, when those who settled it had lived there long enough to need a name for the place, someone called it Nain. It … Read more…

Did you ever wonder why people get tattoos? Me neither. Until I was working on a sermon the other day and the floor beneath my chair opened up and tumbled me through an Alice-in-Wonderland-like rabbit hole into the curious world of body ink. Of course, there are lots of reasons why people pay to have painful, permanent marks placed on their bodies – excessive alcohol consumption being one of the most common. (I think I’ve probably missed the boat on this one, but I bet there is serious money to be made in tattoo removal. Thought the same thing about … Read more…

I think we’ve probably misunderstood Jesus’ words to Judas (John 12) when he objected to an extravagant gesture by Mary. In what is to us a rather strange ancient custom, Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with an expensive perfume, one worth nearly a year’s wages. “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?” Judas fumed. Besides telling Judas to “leave her alone,” Jesus said, “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” Typically, we treat that like a prediction – Jesus is saying that we may as well get used … Read more…